Wait For the Dawn
by Phalanx
Summary: An old enemy of Matt's is assigned to the team... by Matt himself. Scott Trakker comes of age, and a mysterious kidnapper, hired by V.E.N.O.M, kidnaps Duane's niece. It's up to the M.A.S.K. to get her back... if they can.
1. The Kidnapping

Disclaimer: This was a fanfic I wrote long ago, when I still used to write fanfic. It was originally posted on my site, The MASK Mindforge.  
  
The versions at my site have illustrations.  
  
-------------------  
  
Wait for the Dawn Part One: The Kidnapping By Hytac  
  
Like a phantom of the darkness, the abandoned oil tanker lay in the desolate harbour. Rusty and broken down, it was as a symbol of better days when the oil wells used to be productive. Unfortunately, the wells had dried up. The inhabitants moved away for the want of a better living, and left the area a desolate ghost town.  
  
But like most things, the tanker was not what it seemed.  
  
In the hidden base within the oil tanker, Vanessa Warfield, V.E.N.O.M. agent, argued with Miles Mayhem, V.E.N.O.M leader, for what seemed like the tenth time that week.  
  
"That's my job!" Vanessa protested vehemently as Miles put finishing touches on his plans to permanently disable the M.A.S.K. The stout man ignored the woman, intent on carrying things out his way.  
  
"Mayhem, have you lost your mind?" she growled.  
  
"I've made up my mind." Mayhem said gruffly.  
  
"What a wonderful plan, putting your trust on a mercenary." Vanessa said sarcastically.  
  
Mayhem continued speaking, as though he hadn't heard. "Too long I have waited for the day I'd get rid of the M.A.S.K.. They've been a thorn in our sides for too long. But now. but now, I will personally see that each and every one of them is destroyed! Thanks to this new weapon of mine."  
  
"The plans of which I got for you. Vanessa folded her arms. "I can get in and out of the P.N.A. headquarters in less time than in takes for Rax to put two and two together."  
  
"Hey!" came the monotonous protest from the next room.  
  
"I don't want Matt Trakker to suspect it's you. The entire plan will fail if he knows it's the V.E.N.O.M." Mayhem stated.  
  
"That plan won't work!" Vanessa said obstinately.  
  
"I'm the leader here, Vanessa, in case you've forgotten." Mayhem said, his voice rising.  
  
"You're the leader all right." She thought. "That's why were all stuck at nowhere." But she only kept quiet. She would have better luck talking to the rough, algae covered, rust-stained walls of the tanker.  
  
**************  
  
P.N.A. Headquarters.  
  
"Dad, I really appreciate all this, but is getting me a new partner really necessary?" asked Scott Trakker, looking rather out of place with his blue jacket and plain white T-shirt in the midst of uniformed people in the main headquarters of the P.N.A. At nineteen years of age, Scott was nearly as tall as his father, but lacked the aura of experience elder people had. His once curly brown hair had darkened a little, and had straightened out to become merely wavy. His fingers were long and looked almost delicate, proof that he had spent more time typing away at a keyboard to tinkering with fine machinery than doing rough work. His skin was pale, showing that the young man hadn't spent enough time outdoors as he should have.  
  
"Of course , son." Matt Trakker replied. "The team needs some expanding. It's only fair that you get to start with someone new. And I've found the perfect agent, she's a commando at the P.N.A.. She's serious about her job, a good infiltration agent, and I think she'll fit in well."  
  
"That sounds great Dad." Scott said, noticing a man in a wheelchair with the corner of his eye.  
  
"Duane would have spoken to her about now. He's expecting us at his office."  
  
**************  
  
P.N.A. Headquarters, Duane Kennedy's office.  
  
"With all due respect sir, you must be joking." Capt. Inaya Vendun said with a look of pure disbelief on her face.  
  
President Kennedy's office was certainly not conducive to joking. The walls were painted a cool electric blue, while the floor was carpeted with a thick green carpet. Bookcases filled with various volumes hugged the wall at one side, while a couple of comfortable green chairs on the other side were bathed in the sunlight which streamed in from the narrow paned window. A painting depicting mountain scenery graced one wall while charts and maps covered the other.  
  
"I assure you, Captain, I am not. You have been assigned to the Mobile Armored Strike Kommand." Duane said most seriously, leaning forward with a creak of his leather chair.  
  
"But sir, I don't recall any unsatisfactory performances by my team. why am I being demoted?" The woman's face seemed genuinely distressed.  
  
Duane hid a smile. "Captain, your recent performances have all been more than satisfactory. In fact, we've assigned you to the M.A.S.K. as a way of promotion.  
  
"In that case, sir, I will decline my promotion. My duty is with my team." Inaya crossed her arms and looked obstinate.  
  
"Your duty, Capt. Vendun, is to follow orders. You will obey them, will you not?" A hint of annoyance in his voice suggested suspension. Inaya's shoulders sagged. There was no alternative.  
  
"Yes. Sir."  
  
"You are dismissed, Captain."  
  
"Affirmative, sir." She left the room without further sound. The moment she exited, she promptly exploded. "I cannot believe this! Of every single commando in the P.N.A. and it has to be me who gets assigned to him! It could have been anybody but him!" She thought angrily. "I hate the M.A.S.K.! everyone knows that! I'm willing to bet Trakker's behind this somehow."  
  
"Whoa! Captain! Why the fireworks?" A familiar voice came from beside her. Lt. Hal Grayson, her colleague and close friend wheeled next to her. Despite being in a wheelchair, his tall frame still towered over her petite one. He was still young, only a few years older than she, but his head of brown hair had already turned grey. He had muscular arms, perhaps to compensate for his much-wasted legs. In spite of being paralyzed from waist down, Hal still worked for the P.N.A. as a weapons specialist.  
  
"Congratulate me, Hal. I've been assigned to the M.A.S.K." She said glumly.  
  
"The M.A.S.K.?" Hal looked horrified. "Under Trakker?"  
  
Ina nodded. "I just hope I don't kill him for what he did to you."  
  
A haunted look crossed his face. "I'd rather not talk about it, Ina. Too many bad memories. And I'm cleared of those charges anyway." He smiled wanly. "Thanks to you."  
  
Ina smiled back, then her face hardened. "No thanks to Matt Trakker. That man will pay for what he's done. So help me, Hal."  
  
**************  
  
"And you've met my niece, Diana?" Duane said as he introduced a young girl of ten, with soft brown hair and a rather cheeky grin. Her eyes were a bright brown. Her young face was still free from the nuisance of acne, and she wore a sleeveless blouse of pink and simple blue jeans. One dimple on her cheek gave her an adorable, lopsided look.  
  
"Hello Diana." Said Matt and Scott.  
  
"Hello Mister Trakkers." She said charmingly. "Are you real M.A.S.K. agents?"  
  
"Diana!" Duane reprimanded. The girl only grinned.  
  
Duane sighed. "You'll have to excuse her. She's rather set on becoming a M.A.S.K. agent. Her parents asked me to arrange a meeting with you just to pacify her."  
  
"Well, she might become an agent in the future, you never know." The young girl's eyes positively gleamed.  
  
"I know that feeling." Scott said, remembering his past.  
  
"Why don't you talk to her while I discuss the new recruit with Duane?" Matt suggested.  
  
"Pleeease?" Diana beseeched, tugging his sleeve.  
  
Scott relented. As much as he would have liked to know about his new partner, he would have to wait.  
  
**************  
  
As soon as Scott and Diana had retreated out of earshot in to the waiting room, Matt began talking with Duane.  
  
"You've talked to her?"  
  
Duane nodded. "Yes. But I must say, why on earth would you want her? She's good, no doubt, but she hates you because of the Grayson affair. You know she blames you for his disability."  
  
Matt was silent for a moment. "I know. I'm sorry about the Grayson affair. I was wrong, I know it now. Lt. Hal Grayson shouldn't have been jailed, as for his accident, I had no intention of that happening." He paused, as if the memory itself hurt him badly. "But this feud between us has gone on for too long, Duane. I want to end it. Maybe by letting her see my true side, I can get her to see what happened was a mistake. I'd like a chance."  
  
"I've always admired you for that, Matt. But what of pairing her with your son?"  
  
"Scott is rather hot-headed." Matt said slowly. "He refused to go to college or university because he wanted to become a M.A.S.K. agent. I know he thinks he doesn't need it. he certainly is good with machinery and computers, but maybe working with a partner like Vendun can show him that M.A.S.K. work isn't what he thought it would be. As far as I'm concerned, it's an experiment worth trying."  
  
**************  
  
The Mercenary wriggled sinuously though the ventilation tunnels of the P.N.A. Headquarters, making the minimum of sounds required. Known as the Albino, he was considered the best mercenary kidnapper in business.  
  
The very same fact which prompted Miles Mayhem to hire him instead of Vanessa Warfield.  
  
Through the slats of the ventilation grate, he caught a glimpse of the president's office. The president was talking to a younger blond man. The mercenary recognized him instantly.  
  
"Matt Trakker." He hissed. "Not very good, this. Should have known Mayhem would leave this out when briefing me. Good thing I recognized his car."  
  
No matter. Even Matt Trakker would not be able to stop the Albino from doing his work this day. He wriggled further on, ignoring the terribly draughty condition of the vents. The waiting room adjoining Duane Kennedy's office was occupied by two people. More accurately, a young man and an even younger girl. He was about twenty. She, perhaps twelve. Both were talking about something, the latter more than the former.  
  
Objective sighted. Now that every piece of his plan was in place, there was nothing that could stop him. Remove the detonation remote from his belt, click the button and the everyone would be as blind as a bat.  
  
And as defenseless as one.  
  
A twitch of his thumb sent a chain of explosives rumbling, destroying the power system, security as well as the backup systems. Even in the vent, he could hear the dull report of the explosion, followed by darkness as the lights went out.  
  
The Albino believed in doing things thoroughly. One kick at the sawed- through vent sent it flying. He stepped into the waiting room.  
  
**************  
  
The blast knocked Hal off his wheelchair and Inaya off her feet. The hallway plunged into darkness. Without the artificial lighting, The P.N.A. headquarters were rendered unnavigable.  
  
"I'm okay." Hal reassured her. "What was that?"  
  
"Someone set of a chain of explosives." Inaya's hand reached for her gun which she normally kept in her thigh holster, and groaned when she remembered she hadn't brought it because of her visit to Duane's office. Hal never carried firearms. "I'd better find out."  
  
"I'll keep watch here. providing I can see anything." Hal said as he dragged himself into his wheelchair.  
  
"Right." Inaya said as she set off in the direction of the President's office.  
  
"Be careful." Hal called after her.  
  
"The lights, why have they gone off?" Duane demanded. Enough light was emitted by the glass-paned window for the president to see, but that was all.  
  
"I don't think that's the problem, Duane." Matt said, looking uneasy. "Why haven't the backup lights come on? Something's wrong."  
  
Truer words were never spoken. Even as he said that, the acrid smell of gas seeped through the vent, and into the room. The dizzying sensation from inhalation confirmed that it was some sort of knock-out gas.  
  
"Duane! The gas! We must get out!" Matt warned between gasps.  
  
"My niece! Diana! And your son!" Duane collapsed into unconsciousness. Matt held his breath, grabbed the president and propelled him out the door. The empty corridor was free of the knock-out gas. Matt left him there. Taking a deep breath, he ran for the room where he had left his son.  
  
Someone emerged from the room, a limp figure under one arm. Matt checked his pace, and attempted to intercept the figure. It wasn't Scott. The mystery man dropped the figure and raised his hands in surrender.  
  
And somersaulted forward so quickly that he caught Matt by surprise. A violent kick in the face sent him spinning and he found himself face-down with a mouthful of carpet. By the time he got up, both kidnapper and victim were gone.  
  
Apparently the gas was only meant to last a short while. It had already begun to clear. Torn between the decision to pursue the intruder and find his son, Matt hesitated.  
  
Scott came stumbling out of the smoke, coughing.  
  
"Dad! .Diana!" he gasped. ".she's been kidnapped! I couldn't stop him." Father and son raced after the intruder, but he was where to be seen.  
  
"Don't worry. I know where we can cut him off." Matt said, a look of grim determination on his face. "He won't get away."  
  
**************  
  
In was instinct which prompted Inaya to duck. A shower of sparks bore evidence to the wisdom of her actions. A bullet embedded itself into the wall above her head. She had barely time to recover when a figure rushed past her. He was carrying something.  
  
Inaya yelled out a warning to Hal, who was further down. The sounds of a scuffle broke out. Hal hadn't a chance. The intruder gave a powerful sidekick which sent him, wheelchair and all, crashing into the wall. He hit his head, slumped against the wall, and did not move. The intruder raced on.  
  
No time to stop and help Hal. No time to do anything but run, run and run, with the knowledge that he was armed and she was not. But he had the burden to carry, she had not. And she was a fast runner. She was gaining on him. Familiar passages and rooms flashed by, barely a blur to Inaya. She smelled smoke, and knew that certain parts of the building were on fire. But she didn't care. She couldn't spare the time to.  
  
"He was heading for the hangar!" she realized suddenly. If he got into one of the vehicles..  
  
Too late. He reached the hangar and darted into the open door of a helicopter. The hangar door was open. The security personnel lay senseless on the floor. They must have been knocked out earlier since the hangar hadn't suffered any damage from the bombs. He had planned it all along. Inaya pushed herself to the limit as he started the copter. She had to stop him.  
  
She caught the landing gear just as he lifted off. Grimly, she hung on as the helicopter sailed out of the hangar without the slightest bit of resistance from anyone.  
  
Or so she thought. Out from the blue, a red Camaro with gull wings flew to intercept the helicopter. "Speak of the devil. Not him!" She groaned. Suddenly she regretted not taking another of the helicopters to pursue the kidnapper. She had been trained in the use of all of them.  
  
Desperately, she struggled to climb into the fuselage. With terra firma hundreds of feet below, she would have to try to overpower him from inside. "They can't shoot down the helicopter." She surmised. "They'll have to think of something else. Oh wait. That man will probably use that fancy face mask and do something to save the day." She thought sarcastically as they left the city area and entered the countryside. "At least if we crash, the death toll won't be so catastrophic." Inaya comforted herself.  
  
She struggled and got hauled herself up to the fuselage door. The victim, who was a young girl, lay motionless on the passenger seat. Inaya recognized her instantly. It was Diana Kennedy, Duane Kennedy's niece. She must have been drugged.  
  
The kidnapper hadn't noticed her yet. He was busy at the moment and in the process of activating a control of some sort.  
  
Suddenly, the Camaro's hood blew. It was a very small internal explosion. But the car-plane began loosing power. Inaya watched helplessly as the Thunderhawk faltered, and plunged towards the deadly ground. The closest water was a lake in the distance, and there was no way the Thunderhawk could reach it in time for a water landing.  
  
The Thunderhawk spiraled downwards, leaving a spire of oily black smoke. She almost couldn't bear to look as they neared the ground. As much as she disliked Matt Trakker, she had no wish to see him die this way. They were heading for an empty pasture. Moments before it crashed into the ground, the car plane righted itself and crash landed.  
  
"I'll say one thing for that Trakker. He certainly can crash-land." She muttered to herself. Then she noticed the pair of boots in front of her. She muttered a curse as the kidnapper, having finally noticed her, moved to get her off the helicopter.  
  
For the first time, she managed to get a good look at the man. He was tall, very tall, and powerfully built. He was covered from head to toe in black, plus a grey face mask. A pair of tinted goggles covered his eyes and he wore a beret pulled low on one side. He moved with the grace of a cat.  
  
This would not be an easy fight. She was a skilled fighter, but so was he. And he was so much bigger and heavier than she was.  
  
She threw a punch, which he deftly blocked. His powerful kick nearly hit her torso, but she darted out of the way in time.  
  
Then something caught her leg and she crashed to the ground, or more appropriately, the fuselage floor. She rolled over and hit out blindly, managing to catch something. It came off in her hand. It was the kidnapper's face mask.  
  
For one crystal clear moment, they made eye contact. She saw his pale face, his crop of short white hair, his weak eyes. Green eye met white. Then too fast to follow, his leg connected with her midsection and sent her hurtling out of the helicopter. She screamed and grabbed the landing gears again.  
  
Well. Back to square one.  
  
Vaguely, she was aware of the wide blue expanse of water looming towards her with horrifying speed. The kidnapper was going to shake her off by dunking her into a convenient lake. And there was nothing she could do about it. She would have to let go or be killed.  
  
Gritting her teeth, she let go and rolled herself into a ball, bracing for impact.  
  
She hit the water. After the first confusing moment, she surfaced, spluttering and stared at the fleeing helicopter, now a distant speck against the azure sky. She had lost the kidnapper, and with him went Diana Kennedy.  
  
**************  
  
P.N.A. headquarters resembled a stirred-up bee-hive by the time Inaya had made her way back. The explosions had injured many of its occupants, and the damage to the property was intensive. Smoke poured out of several sections, still blazing despite the firefighter's attempts to douse the fire.  
  
The blinking lights of paramedics and other rescue personnel outside dazzled her. She could see men carrying the injured into ambulances before rushing them to the hospital. Even some of the faces were familiar. She hoped that Hal wasn't one of the injured. Catching the grisly sight over several body bags, she hope it wasn't worse. Men and women were scurrying about, no one seemed to notice her.  
  
"Inaya!" Someone called her. She saw it was Captain Bailey, her onetime superior and mentor. The bulky man with the bulldog jaw was overseeing the salvation of equipment. "Are you hurt?" Inaya shook her head. "Grayson told me you went after the kidnapper. that was dangerous! And you weren't even armed! What were you thinking?"  
  
Inaya shrugged. "Not now Bailey. I knew the risks. But he got away." The taste of failure was bitter and it stung her. "How's Lt. Grayson?" She asked, unable to hide her tone of concern.  
  
"He came around sometime ago. I sent him home since the paramedics didn't think it was serious." Capt. Bailey told her. "Nothing but a knock on the head, they said. You don't have to worry about him. By the way, there's a man who's been asking for you. Over there." Capt. Bailey pointed.  
  
Inaya followed his gaze. Her eyes settled on the blond man standing beside an ambulance. Her heart sank. The man was Matt Trakker.  
  
**************  
  
Scott's leg was still a bit stiff, but aside from that, he was fine. It had taken them some time to get back to the P.N.A. Headquarters after the Thunderhawk had crashed. Somehow, the kidnapper had managed to plant the bomb on the Thunderhawk. Fortunately, the Thunderhawk's safety systems had kicked in and prevented them from any injury. Scott had a bruise on his knee, but that was all.  
  
"Mr. Trakker?" A voice penetrated his thoughts. He looked up and saw a young woman. Her long green-black hair was plastered to her face and her clothes were rather wet. She wasn't very tall, about a few inches over five feet. Her body was shapely and trim, evidence of the physical demands her line of work called for. Her face showed a mix of European and Oriental. Eyes a shade of dark green that could easily be mistaken for black flashed in the morning sun. He recognized her immediately. It was the woman who had hung from the helicopter.  
  
"Over here, Capt. Vendun." His father, who had been talking to Duane (who had by then recovered) spoke up.  
  
"You called, Mr. Trakker?" She said, her voice hard.  
  
Was it just him, or was there an edge in her voice which suggested anger, even hate? Her face certainly looked rather hostile. Never mind their trying to hide it. It was there.  
  
His father and Capt. Vendun had locked gazes. They were challenging each other, Scott realized. Something was very wrong here. No mistake that she hated his father. It was present in her face, the way she moved, and her tone of voice.  
  
"It's been quite awhile since we've seen each other Capt. Vendun." With a shock, Scott noticed his father's face bore an expression usually reserved for Miles Mayhem and the V.E.N.O.M. His father had no violent love for Capt. Vendun, that was certain.  
  
"Well, you'll be seeing a lot of me, from now on, Sir. Since I've been personally asked by the President to join your team." Somehow she made it sound like an insult. Then it dawned on him.  
  
"Very well, Capt. Please meet my son, Scott. Scott, meet Inaya Vendun. She's your new partner."  
  
Scott made a ghastly attempt to smile. Her cold eyes stared back. Automatically, he extended a hand. She took it, and shook it, and dropped it as soon as possible.  
  
"Mr. President." She said, turning away. "I engaged the kidnapper, I couldn't overpower him."  
  
"Not your fault, Capt. Vendun. I didn't expect you to be able to stop him." Duane said glumly. The loss of his niece seemed to have drained the spirit out of him. Inaya winced at the words.  
  
"What am I going to tell her parents?" Duane said sadly to himself. His shoulders sagged.  
  
"I'm sorry I failed this time, Duane." His father said, laying his hand on the man's shoulder. But I'm going to get her back. I promise."  
  
Scott risked a quick glance at Inaya. Her face had softened with compassion at the sight of the distraught man. "There's a human being under that tough exterior." He realized.  
  
Suddenly, working with her didn't seem to be so bad after all.  
  
**************  
  
Miles Mayhem was pleased. Everything was going according to plan. Diana Kennedy had been kidnapped and yet Matt Trakker had no idea that the V.E.N.O.M. was behind it.  
  
Which would ultimately prove his doom. Mayhem grinned evilly as he set the second step of his plan in motion.  
  
"The meeting point will be here." He pointed at the digital map. The Albino nodded. Beside the corpulent Mayhem, the Albino seemed even taller than ever.  
  
"Just get on with it." He hissed. "And next time tell me if Trakker will be there or not."  
  
"I had no idea he'd be there last time." Mayhem protested, his mustache bristling.  
  
The Albino waved his long, slender hand impatiently. "Whatever. Just continue."  
  
"After you send the ransom demand, you will make plans to meet them here." Mayhem pointed at the map again. "The fool Trakker will show up with a team of people called the M.A."  
  
"I know!" The mercenary snarled. "Get to the point!"  
  
Mayhem felt a surge of dislike for the mercenary. His satisfaction at being able to capture Diane vanished as quickly mist in the morning sun. If he wasn't the best, Mayhem would have fired him long ago. "There, we'll receive the ransom money. You can take it and all of it, there and then. That will be your payment. As soon as the money is exchanged, my agents will take care of the M.A.S.K.!" A fanatical light gleamed in his eyes.  
  
The Albino saw it and shook his head. He had seen that look in others before. They all had had bad ends.  
  
To be continued...  
  
-------------------  
  
Credits: First of all, I'd like to thank The Hitman, Lisa and Kallah for reading over the first version of the fanfic, pointing out the mistakes, and helping me to make this a better piece of fanfic and giving me the encouragement every fanfic writer needs. I'd also like to give my thanks to Megaman, the really cool guy who provides all those Realvideo episodes of M.A.S.K., which in turn keeps me interested. Also to all those people who gave me feedback, you know who you are. Lastly, I'd like to thank Jarod Kowalski (Did I spell that right?), who started the M.A.S.K. RPG long long ago. So it didn't last long... but hey, if he hadn't created the RPG, my character, Inaya Vendun would never have been born... Thanx all! - Hytac ------------------- This fanfic is the copyright of Hytac Please do not use without written permission. M.A.S.K. is the copyright of Kenner Parker toys... yada yada yada 


	2. The Grudge

Disclaimer: This was a fanfic I wrote long ago, when I still used to write fanfic. It was originally posted on my site, The MASK Mindforge.  
  
The versions at my site have illustrations.  
  
-------------------  
  
Wait for the Dawn  
  
Part Two: The Grudge  
  
By Hytac  
  
-------------------  
  
Matt had called a meeting of the M.A.S.K. agents. The computer had selected (in alphabetical order) Alex Sector, Brad Turner, Bruce Sato, Buddy Hawks, Dusty Haynes, Gloria Baker, and Hondo McLean. While waiting for the agents to rush over to Boulder Hill, Matt was quizzing Inaya on how much she had noticed about the kidnapper.  
  
"He was an Albino, Trakker. I managed to snatch his mask off while fighting him." She told him firmly.  
  
"Is he in here?" Matt showed her a complete set of pictures of the V.E.N.O.M. agents. She shook her head. "This one?" He asked, pointing at a picture of Vanessa Warfield.  
  
"Definitely not." She said gritting her teeth. She was beginning to be annoyed. "Is there a point to this, Trakker?"  
  
Matt didn't answer. He was disappointed. He had been so sure V.E.N.O.M. had been behind the kidnapping somehow, but every bit of evidence had pointed the other way.  
  
Matt sighed. He had to admit, he was dangerously close to letting his personal feelings influence his reasoning. He would just have to accept that for once, V.E.N.O.M. wasn't up to something dirty.  
  
"I guess Mayhem would have sent Vanessa if it were the V.E.N.O.M." Buddy commented, taking off his ever-present cap, smoothing his hair down, and putting it on again. He had been stationed at Boulder Hill, so getting there was no problem. "For once, this is someone else's dirty work."  
  
"Thanks for your co-operation Capt. Vendun. Buddy, since I briefed you already, why don't you and Scott show Inaya around the base? I haven't had a chance to do that. She hasn't even seen the vehicles yet."  
  
"If you say so, Matt." The three left and Matt was alone.  
  
***************  
  
"This is my vehicle." Scott told Inaya, pointing to a white and blue motorbike parked beside the Condor. "Bruce- that's our mechanical engineer and designer, and I designed and built it ourselves. It's a bike that can convert into an aqua-scooter. I've named it the Remora."  
  
The Boulder Hill's garage was huge, large enough to accommodate all the M.A.S.K. vehicles. The transport plane used to ferry the vehicles to destinations overseas was kept in a hangar next to it.  
  
"I'm supposed to partner with you on that bike?" She asked, surprised.  
  
"Actually, no. Matt meant for you to take the Condor when Brad's not using it. If he's using it, then you take the Raven or co-pilot with Calhoun." Buddy explained.  
  
Inaya gave him a blank look. Buddy slapped his forehead, knocking his cap off. "Sorry! I forgot you're still new to all this. The Condor is the green bike there. The Raven's that black car over there. We have names for each vehicle." Buddy bent down to retrieve his cap, but Inaya already had it in her hand.  
  
"Oh. Okay." She said, returning the cap, waving a hand at Buddy's thanks. She glanced at the Condor. "What does it do?"  
  
"It's equipped with an anti-matter gun, and is able to convert into a helicopter. On flat terrain, it can switch to laser-guide eject mode and can travel up to speeds of Mach 1."  
  
"That's fast." Inaya said, slightly impressed. She had thawed out a little since their earlier meeting. Her wet clothes had been changed and she now wore a black captain's uniform, complete with a beret. Without the presence of Matt Trakker, she seemed friendlier and certainly lost the hostile attitude. She had actually even smiled a few times.  
  
Buddy pointed out the other vehicles and explained their functions. Inaya was interested to know that each of them had their own masks. "So what other weapons do you use to compliment the masks and vehicles?" She asked.  
  
Buddy looked surprised. "We don't use any."  
  
"Oh." Inaya looked doubtful. "Maybe you should start. I'm sure I'd be an improvement. I never believed in depending completely on gadgets."  
  
"Maybe you should suggest that to Matt." Said Buddy.  
  
"Forget I said anything." She said, turning cold so abruptly that Scott could almost hear ice freezing. Buddy, whose experience with her so far was that of a pretty nice person, shot Scott a questioning look. Scott just shook his head.  
  
***************  
  
"And that's all we know for now. This mercenary, according to Capt. Vendun, is an albino." Matt told the assembly of agents, who were seated around the briefing table.  
  
"A what?" Brad asked, not being familiar with the word.  
  
"An albino, Brad. An albino would be a person suffering from a rare pigment deficiency. As a result, their skin, hair and eyes take the palest colours possible, that is, White." Alex explained.  
  
"Now that won't be hard to miss." Brad commented.  
  
"I don't see how that helps us get Diana Kennedy back." Hondo cut in.  
  
"Well, it might be useful if we could get some information about this kidnapper. He was very skilled." Matt involuntarily rubbed his jaw where the kidnapper had kicked him.  
  
"And maybe it could give us some clues about his whereabouts." Gloria suggested, tapping her nails against the table.  
  
"The rare we find with hardship, but we identify with ease." Bruce quoted with a wise smile.  
  
"What in Tarnation is he talkin' about now?" demanded Dusty.  
  
"What Bruce means is that rare things are hard to find, but easy to recognize." Matt said. "There aren't many albinos around, so I'm guessing a search in the human census databases should give us a few answers. We should be able to find the information there in well. black and white."  
  
"Something's coming in by satellite." Alex announced, glancing at a nearby computer console. "Shall I patch it in?"  
  
"By all means, Alex."  
  
The picture of Duane Kennedy filled the viewscreen. The P.N.A. president looked tired and drawn. His face showed indescribable sadness. Everyone in the room suddenly felt the importance of the mission weighing them down.  
  
"Matt." He said somberly. "We've received a ransom demand from the kidnapper. The price is ten million dollars. in cash. I already have that prepared."  
  
"You're not thinking of giving in to the kidnapper, are you, Mr. Kennedy?" Scott, who had returned along with Buddy, asked, concerned. He had changed into his uniform already, which was a pale slaty blue. White stripes ran the length of the arms and legs before disappearing into the tops of grey boots and gloves. The uniform, was essentially a wetsuit, as Scott's vehicle required him to submerge completely in water.  
  
"I'm prepared to do whatever it takes to get my niece back. But if anyone can do that and catch the criminal, that would be your father." Duane paused, looked sadder than ever. "Matt, I have the money ready. One of your agents will have to come and pick it up. I have the co-ordinates for the exchange point. I don't know what you plan to do, but I trust you with it."  
  
"I'll get her back, Duane." Matt vowed vehemently. And he meant it. Turning to Scott, he said: "Scott, I need you to man the base and dig up more information about the kidnapper with In. Captain Vendun." Matt said, trying to call her by her first name and failing utterly.  
  
"But." protested Scott, dumbfounded. Matt swiftly hit the button that activated the table lift and the agents were lifted up into the mask room. Scott was left watching in anger. "I knew he'd do something like this to me!" he said angrily to himself.  
  
"Am I surprised." Said a voice from behind. Inaya leaned against the briefing room door. She had taken off her beret and tucked it in the strap on her shoulder. "No offense, him being your father and all, but looks like he just stuck us both here, out of the action."  
  
Scott was too angry to answer. "For a moment there I thought he trusted me." He growled.  
  
"C'mon. We'd better get cracking." Inaya said quietly, but with a serious note of command. In was obvious she was used to taking charge. And as much as she disliked his father, she would still obey orders. "Let's find out about this albino."  
  
Scott gave one parting glare at the ceiling, and nodded. He led Inaya to the computer room, still seething inside.  
  
***************  
  
The M.A.S.K. vehicles, Rhino, Gator, Condor and Firecracker roared out of the garage, The Rhino taking the lead. Matt wore Ultraflash instead of Spectrum as the Thunderhawk was still disabled.  
  
"Matt, this is Brad. I'm heading to the P.N.A. Headquarters to pick up the ransom money. I'll meet you later at the exchange point."  
  
"Right."  
  
The Condor left the convoy of vehicles and disappeared with the booming noise of a sonic wave. Brad had switched to laser-guide eject mode and was on his way at the speed of sound.  
  
The other vehicles headed for the exchange point while Matt outlined his plan. He had left out quite a bit because of his haste earlier. Part of him felt guilty about what he did to Scott, while another felt relieved. At least he knew his son wouldn't be in danger. Yet, the look in Scott's eye kept flashing before him.  
  
"He's too young. If it were the V.E.N.O.M. I'd let him. but this is someone new we don't know anything about." He argued to himself. "As for Brad joining at the age of 22, well, Brad's a special case."  
  
"You said something, Matt?" Bruce asked.  
  
"Nothing."  
  
"I was disappointed we didn't get a chance to test the Remora properly." Bruce commented. "You know, Scott has a talent for designing vehicles. He reminds me of your brother, Andy."  
  
Matt was silent. It hadn't occurred to him that Scott wouldn't be the only one disappointed. He was almost relieved when they neared the exchanged point.  
  
"We're near the area. it's right on top of the Larkpoint Dam." Alex, who was in the back of the Rhino, reported.  
  
"All right. We wait for Brad here." Matt ordered. "Take your positions." One by one, the vehicles rumbled to a stop.  
  
***************  
  
"Well. The kidnapper was definitely skilled. He knew what he was doing." Inaya said thoughtfully. She and Scott were seated in the computer room. Data records were strewn all over the place. Inaya had taken off her jacket, finding the room stuffy. She sat hunched over the console of a computer, while Scott was in a similar position over another.  
  
"There!" She had managed to piece together an image of the albino's face using the identification system.  
  
"I'll run that through the records." Scott said voluntarily. "This'll take a long time." The computer began humming as it searched the world population records. Scott leaned back, glad for a moment's rest from the incessant work.  
  
They had painstakingly searched through the medical population records. Some of the files had been classified, so Scott was obliged to hack into them. Inaya had limited skills with the computer, and had told him so. After that, they had searched for all albino records, then traced them one by one, crossing out the deceased and those unlikely to be their target. They were left with a list of seven possible suspects. Inaya's identification picture would be able pick out the one they wanted.  
  
"Coffee?" Scott was jarred out of his reverie. Inaya plunked a mug on the side of his console. "I figure you're as tired as I am. I hate paperwork."  
  
"Thanks." Scott accepted it gratefully. Once again, Inaya had lost her hostile attitude and had actually become quite pleasant. "I know what you mean. Funny how tired you can get just looking at pieces of paper and reading computer screens."  
  
"Tell me about it." Inaya sighed. "Is that thing done yet?" she nodded at the computer. Scott peered at the screen.  
  
"Not by a long shot. We've only reached ten percent."  
  
"Wonderful." She commented dryly. Scott noticed Inaya tended to be sarcastic when she wasn't pleased. "I'll be old before that thing is done." She paused. "Speaking of age, how old are you anyway? I didn't even know you were Matt Trakker's son."  
  
"What does it matter?" he snapped, surprising even himself.  
  
"I'm just curious. Sorry. I thought your father too young to have a son your age." She answered calmly, but with a hint of hurt in her voice.  
  
Silence. Inaya turned back to her computer screen. Scott felt awkward. For a moment, he had thought they were going to get along, but it didn't seem that way now. The tension in the room rose until the silence itself seemed like an intrusion. He wished the computer would hurry up and get it over with. Desperate for something to do, he gulped down a mouthful of coffee before realizing it was a too hot. But he swallowed anyway.  
  
The computer had accomplished about twenty percent of the population files when the silence was broken. "You're tired of living in your father's shadow, aren't you?" she suddenly said, not looking at him.  
  
The question caught him by surprise. "Yeah." He blurted before he could stop himself. "How do you know?"  
  
"It was in your eyes when your father dumped you with me."  
  
"Oh." Was all Scott could think of to say. While he has been studying her, she had been studying him. "Yeah." He repeated slowly. "I guess I'm tired of it. I love my father, but. sometimes I feel I'm not Scott Trakker. I'm Matt Trakker's Son." Again he surprised himself even more. "I haven't had a chance to prove myself, And sometimes I feel I'm not living my own life."  
  
"It's like someone else is running your life for you." She finished for him. Scott nodded. "And that someone is your father?"  
  
"Maybe."  
  
"You mean yes."  
  
"I guess so."  
  
"So why are you in the M.A.S.K. anyway? Because your father wanted you to?" Inaya asked.  
  
Scott shook his head. "That was something I wanted myself. Ever since I was a kid. In fact I skipped college and university to join."  
  
"Really? I never wanted to be here. And I thought a university degree was necessary for everything these days. You're what, twenty, twenty five?"  
  
Scott shook his head. "Nineteen. No. I don't think so. University couldn't teach me anything that I didn't already know."  
  
"I never had the chance." Inaya said, without regret in her voice. "I joined the P.N.A. at eighteen as a young recruit. took me four years before I completed commando training. It took me another five years to reach the rank of Captain. And they consider that fast."  
  
"Well, I have no regrets." Scott stated.  
  
"I've always learned the following your dream is right thing to do. Maybe it is." She said thoughtfully.  
  
The computer beeped as she spoke. "Hey it's done!" Scott exclaimed. Eagerly, he scanned at the results. "And I think we've found our man."  
  
"Who is he?" Inaya asked with interest, moving over and reading over his shoulder.  
  
"Wait a minute. these files are incomplete! They've been hacked into and deleted!" Scott realized. "The name and history. everything else is gone! All's left is a picture and a bit of data entered after the deletion."  
  
"What do they say?" Inaya glanced at the picture. "That's him alright." She murmured.  
  
"He's known simply by the street name, 'The Albino'. He's suspected to be a mercenary. specializing in kidnappings for other people! And he's also a suspect in the theft of several weapon parts which were discovered a few weeks before he broke into P.N.A. Headquarters. I'm opening the attachment to see what they are."  
  
"All those parts. what does he want with them?" Inaya pondered. "Or to be specific, what does the Albino's employer want them for.?"  
  
"And who is his employer, for that matter?" Scott mused. "I wish Hondo was here."  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Hondo McLean, he's our weapons specialist. You already met him, remember? He'd be able to tell us. Maybe I should contact them and ask."  
  
"No!" Inaya said very decidedly. "The call could be intercepted. Even at a private frequency, it's too risky and it'll expose your team. Besides, we don't have any information worth calling them anyway."  
  
Scott didn't miss the fact that she said 'your team' and not 'our team'. Apparently, Inaya still didn't feel a part of the M.A.S.K.. "Than what do we do?" Scott asked, a little annoyed.  
  
"Weapons, specialist, is it.?" Inaya smiled to herself. "I know just the guy."  
  
***************  
  
"Matt. He's coming." Hondo reported, looking through a pair binoculars. The green bulk of the Condor and the yellow of its rider could be seen.  
  
"Matt, this is Brad. I've got the money. Shall I deliver?"  
  
"Negative, Brad. I want you to find Diana as soon as the exchange is made. Gloria and Dusty will make the exchange. The rest we'll take care of."  
  
"If you say so." The Condor roared on towards the Gator, kicking up a trial of dust on the makeshift road. Slowing to a stop, Brad handed the black leather case containing the money to Gloria. "Good luck." He said.  
  
Dusty nodded. "We'll do the exchange fine. Don't ya worry. " Then he started up the Gator and they headed for the exchange point. Pieces of machinery were strewn all over, as well as the surplus materials. The dam was more or less finished, but there was hardly any water in it yet, as it would have to wait until spring before snow water began to melt and the dam would fill with water. Parallel to the road was an empty riverbed, the flow of which had been stolen by the dam. Dusty was sure to guide the Gator carefully around these obstacles, while Gloria kept a sharp eye out for the kidnapper.  
  
As it turned out, she needn't have bothered. Their target was standing in plain sight, awaiting them. He wore an outfit matching the description of the one he had worn during the assault on the P.N.A.  
  
Gloria got out of the Gator, carrying the suitcase in her hand while Dusty waited in the car. It was heavy. "Ready to exchange?"  
  
"Ten million?" The kidnapper hissed. Gloria nodded. "Take the money out of that bag and put it in this one." He tossed Gloria a blue duffel bag, which she deftly caught. "Do it slowly."  
  
Gloria complied, knowing that the life of Diana was at stake. As she did so, she noticed the kidnapper was running a scanning device of some sort, checking for hidden bugs and other forms of treachery. So far he had found none.  
  
She hoped that Matt knew what he was doing.  
  
***************  
  
"Is this friend of yours reliable?" Scott yelled over the din of traffic. He and Inaya were racing through the rush hour on the Remora, heading for the home of her friend the weapons specialist. Scott hadn't been able to pass up and opportunity to ride the Remora, even if it was for something as trivial as the task they were currently carrying out.  
  
"You bet. He knows his job and we can trust him. He works for the P.N.A." Inaya answered in his ear. "Here we are!"  
  
They had reached a nondescript semi-detached house on a quiet suburban area. Shady trees formed and avenue while children played in a small park across the road. The house itself looked just like its neighbors, white paint, gray roof and a small garden at the side. The only difference here was that the garden had been bricked up to form a larger driveway.  
  
Inaya got off, and motioned for Scott to follow her. After parking the Remora, he accordingly did so. The front door opened as they approached the driveway.  
  
"Ina?" A man with grey hair asked. Scott was surprised to see that he was sitting in a wheelchair. "Who's the friend.?"  
  
"Hal, meet Scott Trakker. Scott, this is Hal Grayson." Scott offered his hand. Hal took it and shook. Despite being handicapped, Scott noticed that Hal's grip was firm and it was evident that he had powerful arms. Scott noticed Hal gave him an odd look he couldn't quite understand.  
  
"So what can I do for you?" Hal asked after he had invited them in. They sat in his living room, which was sparsely furnished. There were no carpets or rugs, which would have been useless anyway, as they did nothing but provide obstacles for the wheelchair. Scott was smart enough to figure that the Spartan state of the house was not due to poverty, but necessity. A man in a wheelchair needed lots of room to maneuver, and too much furniture meant lot of work, both while moving around and keeping the place orderly.  
  
"We need your help, Hal. We've got a list of weapon part thefts and we'd like to know what a person can possibly do with these items." Inaya explained.  
  
"Let me have a look." Hal glanced at the list and whistled. "That's some high-tech stuff you got there. Could be almost anything. wait. here are a couple of rare items, you don't use them on conventional weapons. only energy based ones such as pulse energy or shock wave." he went on into a tirade of machinery jargon which was too advanced for even Scott to follow.  
  
"He's always like that." Inaya confided. "He'll grow coherent in a minute, don't worry." Scott grinned, remembering someone had said the same about him when he talked about computers.  
  
"Right. I think I have it!" Hal said after self-discussion for about ten minutes. "I've narrowed it down to several choices, I'll need my computer for this. Hope you won't mind waiting."  
  
Scott assured they didn't. Hal wheeled out of the room. Inaya followed him saying something about giving him a hand, leaving Scott alone. Scott leaned back on the sofa, and wondered what to do. Letting his eyes wander around, he caught sight of a framed picture on the mantelpiece. On impulse, he picked it up to get a better look at it. His eyes widened in surprise.  
  
A younger Hal Grayson was posing with his arm around a young woman. His hair was not the gray it was at the present, but a light brown. He was standing perfectly, without a wheelchair in sight. Both were smiling and it was clear that they were a couple. But all these details Scott barely noted. All his attention was centered on the woman. She was Inaya Vendun.  
  
He never heard Inaya return to the room, which was surprising considering there was nothing on the floor which could have muffled her footsteps. When he looked up, she was standing in front of him. "He looks younger there, doesn't he?" She commented.  
  
Scott jumped. "I'm sorry. I er." he stammered.  
  
"Don't worry. It's not like it's private or anything." She smiled, but he could see she was looking at the pictuer too, and the smile was a little strained. "Hal says it'll be ready in a minute. Since I couldn't help him with whatever he was doing, I thought I'd check on you."  
  
"How did he come to be stuck in the wheelchair?" Scott asked tentatively.  
  
"Do you really want to know?"  
  
Scott nodded. "Yeah." And he meant it. Perhaps there was some connection to Inaya's hatred for his father.  
  
Inaya needed no further urging. She began. "Well, about seven years ago, a shipment of high-tech weapons and equipment was hijacked by a bunch of terrorists. A lot of people got hurt in the process. Your father believed that the equipment was being used to construct the V.E.N.O.M. vehicles. At that time, the M.A.S.K. had just started. He was right, we never got it back, but the V.E.N.O.M. appeared. Everything pointed to a mole in the P.N.A. Someone who knew a lot about weapons."  
  
"And Hal was accused?"  
  
She nodded. "Some big shot was convinced Hal was the one. He was the most likely suspect, but there wasn't enough evidence to convict him. But somehow, they did it. He got sentenced to jail for a very long time." She paused. "I was engaged to him at that time. That picture was taken about couple of months before all that happened."  
  
"Then what happened?" Scott asked, interested.  
  
"Well, I was still a greenhorn at that time, I hadn't even finished training. But I went and faced the man responsible. I pleaded and tried to reason with him, but to no avail. That guy had a heart of stone. He wouldn't take another look to make sure. He was convinced he was right and wouldn't even check to see if he really was."  
  
"Man. that guy must have been really stubborn. Who was he?" Scott asked, disgusted.  
  
Inaya gave him an odd look. "The name of the man." She said quietly, not meeting his eyes. ".was Matt Trakker."  
  
***************  
  
Flashback  
  
The crowd outside the courtroom was frightening. The reporters, in particular, were more ferocious than hyenas arguing over a carcass. The many men and women seemed be only interested in swinging around their microphones of various lengths, screaming at each other and shoving their cameras up into everyone's faces. Inaya shrank at the thought of going through them and facing the man who stood on top of the steps.  
  
"I can do this for Hal." She told herself in a valiant attempt to bolster her quailing courage. In truth, she'd rather face a dressing down by Sergeant Bailey than go through the cursed crowd.  
  
"He'll make it all right once I make him see that Hal wasn't responsible. I know he'll help me." She told herself to boost her confidence. "He's my only hope."  
  
The reporters were yelling questions, drowning each other out in the process.  
  
"Mr. Trakker. what have you to say."  
  
"Mr. Trakker.do you think."  
  
"Mr. Trakker! The court."  
  
"Excuse me. Excuse me." She said as she squeezed her was through the crowd of reporters. Fortunately, her short stature helped a lot. "Mr. Trakker!" she called. "I'm Inaya Vendun. I." she began before she was drowned out by the sea of reporters.  
  
Matt Trakker held a hand up. The crowd quieted. "All I have to say is, justice has been served." He began, speaking passionately. "The terrorists to whom Lt. Grayson sold the weapons to were responsible for a lot of pain and suffering. anyone who had the nerve to help them deserved what Hal Grayson got."  
  
A few people clapped. The reporters were satisfied. One by one, they drifted away.  
  
"Matt Trakker!" Inaya cried seizing her chance. "I need to talk to you."  
  
He stopped and looked at her. "Yes?"  
  
"My name is Inaya Vendun. I'm a friend of Hal Grayson's."  
  
"And what do you want?" he asked, eyes narrowed.  
  
"Please, sir. There's been some mistake. Hal Grayson couldn't have been found guilty. Someone pulled strings to make this happen. I've heard that you're a just man. I need you to help."  
  
He cut her off. "I'm sorry, Ms. Vendun. But the only mistake was made by Lt. Grayson. He shouldn't have helped Miles Mayhem." He practically spat out the last two words.  
  
"But." she trailed off when she saw the cold, hard look in his eyes. "You!?" she gasped. "You did it, didn't you? You pulled those strings."  
  
He looked at her coldly and moved away. She was so stunned she couldn't move. When she finally recovered her powers of movement, he was gone.  
  
"No!" she yelled angrily. "You were supposed to help me!" She clenched her fists so hard that her nails dug into her palms. "You were supposed to understand!" She clenched her fists until they bled.  
  
She didn't care. All she could think of was how much she hated Matt Trakker.  
  
***************  
  
Back to the Present  
  
"My father did it!?" Scott jumped to his feet, disbelieving.  
  
"Yes he did."  
  
"He can't have. he's not like that!"  
  
"That's what I thought. Don't get me wrong, Scott. I admired your father before all that happened, Scott. He was my hero. Was." she added disdainfully. Then she continued with her story.  
  
"About five years after that, there was a riot in the prison Hal was in. A lot of people got hurt, Hal included. The doctors said he had a spinal injury. he'd have to spend the rest of his life in that wheelchair. Shortly after that, he broke off our engagement. He thought I deserved better. Nothing I said could change his mind. Then the truth came out. It wasn't Hal who had supplied the V.E.N.O.M. with those weapons. It was another guy, someone no one suspected. Hal was acquitted and released."  
  
"From what? He aged prematurely in jail. His hair turned gray. He's stuck in that wheelchair for life! All because one man would not change his mind." She said bitterly. An angry tear appeared in the corner of her eye.  
  
Scott was speechless.  
  
"I've got it!" Hal cried from the other room. Inaya and Scott raced for the computer room, both secretly glad that they could avoid the subject.  
  
"Over here." Hal pointed at the screen. "That's what those thieves are probably making."  
  
"Electro-magnetic pulse generator?" Inaya, with hand on back of the wheelchair, read, bewildered.  
  
"EMP generator?" Scott echoed in surprise.  
  
Hal nodded. "The very same. It's a device that jams and causes sensitive machinery to short circuit."  
  
"I think we have something like that in the M.A.S.K. It's just like the Gator's 'Electronic Ouch' gun." Scott said.  
  
"Correct." Hal replied. "But this is something much more powerful. The models currently used have very limited ranges, and they've had to have direct line-of-sight."  
  
"Bruce and Alex once tried to invent a mask with an EMP capabilities. Unfortunately, a lot of problems cropped up. The mask kept shorting everything out. including itself. It was called Short Circuit. Finally we gave up on the project. I wonder what became of it?" Scott mused. "So what's so special about this generator?" He asked, getting back on track.  
  
"It has an especially high radius of effectiveness...up to one kilometer and you don't need direct line-of-sight. Also you have relative control over it, unlike the other models."  
  
"You mean you can actually control which targets you want to effect?" Scott asked, impressed.  
  
"Not quite. But you can control the area you want to effect, the you can specify the radius of the EMP vortex. The radii can vary from the minimum of 20 meters to the maximum of one kilometer."  
  
"Basically, you're saying, this EMP generator can disable every piece of machinery within a specified area?" Inaya asked. Scott looked up, a horrible thought suddenly striking him.  
  
"Yeah." Hal said.  
  
"Vehicles?" Scott asked, knees suddenly weak. Hal nodded.  
  
"The Albino. he must be working for." Inaya realized.  
  
".The V.E.N.O.M.!" Scott finished for her. His voice took a tone of panic. "Dad and the M.A.S.K. are in trouble! They're walking right into a trap!!" Without another word, he turned and ran for the Remora.  
  
-------------------  
  
Credits: First of all, I'd like to thank The Hitman, Lisa and Kallah for reading over the first version of the fanfic, pointing out the mistakes, and helping me to make this a better piece of fanfic and giving me the encouragement every fanfic writer needs. I'd also like to give my thanks to Megaman, the really cool guy who provides all those Realvideo episodes of M.A.S.K., which in turn keeps me interested. Also to all those people who gave me feedback, you know who you are. Lastly, I'd like to thank Jarod Kowalski (Did I spell that right?), who started the M.A.S.K. RPG long long ago. So it didn't last long... but hey, if he hadn't created the RPG, my character, Inaya Vendun would never have been born... Thanx all! - Hytac  
  
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This fanfic is the copyright of Hytac Please do not use without written permission. M.A.S.K. is the copyright of Kenner Parker toys... yada yada yada 


	3. The Trap

Disclaimer: This was a fanfic I wrote long ago, when I still used to write fanfic. It was originally posted on my site, The MASK Mindforge.  
  
The versions at my site have illustrations.  
  
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Wait for the Dawn  
  
Part Three: The Trap  
  
Story and Illustrations By Hytac  
  
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The Albino was impressed. In all the years he had been in the mercenary business, he had never seen a case where the person who had brought the ransom money had actually brought the money and nothing else.  
  
In fact, if he hadn't known about the convoy of hidden vehicles waiting to attack at the right moment, he might have been almost willing to believe that this was a trouble-free exchange.  
  
Which was of course, wrong, wrong and wrong.  
  
"All right. We're done." The woman handed him the bag, but did not release her grip on it. "Now tell me where to find the girl."  
  
"Well, I don't think so." The Albino snatched his gun from the hidden holster and leveled the barrel at the young woman in a single, fluid movement. Involuntarily, the young woman let go and took a step back.  
  
"Don't move. Do you actually think I'm as stupid as you wish me to be?" he snarled. "I know who you are. I know who sent you. And I know what to do when people-" he stressed the last word. "-don't keep their end of the bargain."  
  
***************  
  
"He's double-crossing us!" Dusty radioed.  
  
"Matt, do we attack?" Hondo asked.  
  
"No, Hondo. We can't risk that while he's got that gun pointed at Gloria."  
  
"I hate to be a bearer of bad news, but you guys had better take a look at your radars!" Brad radioed urgently.  
  
Matt glanced at the Rhino's radar. "There's a convoy of vehicles heading out way." The satellite tracking system closed in and projected a better view of the vehicles. "No coincidence here! It's the V.E.N.O.M.!"  
  
"Look's like V.E.N.O.M.'s decided to join the party." Dusty observed.  
  
"I say. I'd be willing to wager that this kidnapper is working for the V.E.N.O.M.!" Alex said.  
  
"And I'm willing to bet you're right, Alex." Matt replied. "Mayhem set the whole thing up and deliberately led us to think that it was someone else."  
  
"Then why show himself up now?" Bruce wondered.  
  
"I don't know, but we've got to stop them from getting here! M.A.S.K. agents attack! Keep the V.E.N.O.M. away from the exchange point!"  
  
The radio crackled to life. "M.A.S.K. Team! This is Scott! It's a trap! The kidnapper's a mercenary called The Albino- he's working for the V.E.N.O.M.! They're planning to ambush you!"  
  
"Not that I'm ungrateful for the warning, Scott, but tell us something we don't know." Brad said as the Condor headed towards the enemy vehicles. They were still some distance away, a little over a mile, but clearly visible on the dry riverbed.  
  
"You've got to get out of there! They have an Electro-Magnetic Pulse generator which shor." The message was suddenly replaced by the harsh hiss of static.  
  
"Scott? Scott? The radio's dead." Matt tried in vain to reestablish communications, but to no avail.  
  
"This is not good, Matt. Our external communications have been jammed." Bruce announced.  
  
Then their vehicles died. Their masks lost power and shut down. Inertia kept the vehicles moving for a little while longer, then friction slowed and stopped them.  
  
"I'll take it a step further and say this is bad." Matt said as pulled Ultraflash off. All the other vehicles had suffered the same fate.  
  
"We're sitting ducks!" Alex exclaimed.  
  
The blast of the first shot confirmed his statement.  
  
***************  
  
"Dad? Dad!" Scott paged, frustrated. "We're too late!" he groaned and slammed his hand against the Remora's console angrily. He was outside the Grayson residence where he had parked the Remora. For a moment, Scott had actually though he had managed to warn them in time. As it was, it proved not to be that case. Now, The V.E.N.O.M. had the upper hand, thanks to the EMP generator they had managed to procure. He got on the Remora and prepared to get moving. He had to help the team somehow.  
  
"Scott! Wait!" Inaya yelled, running from the house. "Where do you think you're going?!"  
  
"The exchange point! I've got to help the M.A.S.K.!"  
  
"And what can you do?" Inaya caught up and stood in front of the bike, effectively preventing him from moving forward. "You don't even know what to expect."  
  
"The V.E.N.O.M. are there. I have to stop them! Maybe you'd like the idea of my father in trouble but I don't. I'm going." Scott replied angrily. "Now get out of my way."  
  
"No." Inaya said in the quiet voice he had heard earlier when she took command. She reached over and with a forceful twist, shut off the ignition. "No." She repeated. "Listen to me, Scott." She argued, keeping her hand on the ignition and preventing him from starting the bike. ".I said, listen! You can't just go in with guns blazing. It's suicide! If this V.E.N.O.M. could disable your father's vehicles with that EMP generator, what's to stop them from disabling you? And even if you somehow managed to stop them, have you given a thought to what happens to Diane Kennedy? I'm willing to bet anything that she'll be dead by the time you get there. Has it occurred to you? Has it?" her voice was raised.  
  
Scott shook his head. "But."  
  
"But what?" she asked quietly.  
  
Scott's mind went blank. He was lost without an answer. "I don't know." He admitted at last. He knew she was right. The odds of the Remora defeating the entire V.E.N.O.M. team was next to zero. And he hadn't even trained enough to take them on without assistance. "But I need to save my father, and my friends! I know you hate my father, Inaya, but."  
  
"For crying out loud. Who do you think I am?" She scolded. "My personal feelings do not get in the way of my duties, Scott Trakker. I am a M.A.S.K. agent now, whether I like it or not."  
  
"Then why are you stopping me from."  
  
"I'm trying to Not-get-you-killed." She replied, as if she was talking to a ten year old child. Instantly Scott felt like he was being lectured by his father in the earlier days of the M.A.S.K. because of his heedlessness. "I'm your partner. I've seen rookies going out commando missions angry. They're the ones who come back in body bags. do you understand? In order to do something, you'll have to make sure you're still alive to do it."  
  
"Then what do we do?" Scott began to calm down. The feeling of urgency was abruptly destroyed.  
  
"You'll have to disable the EMP generator." Said a voice. Scott turned to see Hal wheel towards him, turning the wheels effortlessly with his powerful arms. Apparently he had heard the last sentence. "Fortunately, I think I've found the solution to it."  
  
"What is it, Hal?" Inaya asked, lightening up.  
  
"The EMP generator has be reset every time the settings are changed. That causes a disruption in the system. In this case, the EMP will not be able to maintain its hold and will stop jamming or shutting down the vehicles."  
  
"You mean they can't target a new area without letting the other area go?" Scott asked, suddenly excited. Hope glimmered in his eyes.  
  
"You got it, kiddo." Hal said, bushing his gray hair back. "I think all you need to do it get that fancy bike of yours to take out the generator, while keeping out of the generator's range. Once you've done that, the other vehicles should be A-Okay." Seeing Scott astonished look, he laughed. "I know all about the M.A.S.K., Scott. And I can tell your bikes isn't what it seems to be."  
  
"But that still leaves the problem of Diane Kennedy." Inaya said suddenly.  
  
"What do we do?" Scott asked.  
  
Inaya shook her head dejectedly. "I'm sorry Scott, but this one's stumped me. I truly have no idea."  
  
***************  
  
"Backlash fire!" Dusty fired the mask, hoping to get the kidnapper away from Gloria. The kidnapper dodged the shockwave blast easily, but in doing so, the barrel of the gun left Gloria's direction.  
  
Gloria grabbed her chance. She struck out, flicking the gun out of the mercenary's hand. The mercenary never faltered for a second. He turned Gloria's attack, leaped clear, and headed for Dusty. A flash from the midday sun heralded the removal of a dirk from a hidden sheath. Gloria realized in time what his intention was and activated Aura.  
  
"Aura on!" Just in time- The Albino threw the knife, but the sharp projectile that would have skewered Dusty never reached its destination. Aura stopped the weapon and it bounced off the protective barrier, falling to the ground and clattering against the wheel of the Gator as it did so.  
  
"Clever girl." The kidnapper smirked. He had another gun in his hand by now, one of the many surplus strapped to his person. But this time, the odds were more even. Gloria had erected a shield around both her and Dusty with Aura which would repel any slugs from the gun.  
  
All the same, it was still a dicey situation. "Look." Dusty said, trying to negotiate. "Just tell us where the kid is. You got your money. What else do you want?"  
  
"I don't like people who double-cross." The Albino stated. Then his voice took a lighter tone. Dusty could have sworn he saw a smile despite the mask. "But I do like people who can keep alive in my presence." He kept the gun pointed at one of them, though. "The girl is not here. Miles Mayhem has her somewhere else. I do have an idea where she might be though."  
  
"Why are you telling us this?" Gloria asked suspiciously.  
  
"My contract with Mayhem ends here." He said smoothly. "I'm free to do what I like. I'll strike you a bargain. Cease pursuing me and I might disclose the location of the V.E.N.O.M. headquarters."  
  
"Done." Gloria answered after a questioning look at Dusty, who nodded in reply. "The girl's life comes first."  
  
The albino nodded. "Very well then. Seven miles South-East is an abandoned crude oil tanker called the Margaret-Norris . Mayhem has taken it to become his headquarters. The girl might be there. Even she is not, you might find some information leading it to her." Dusty looked disappointed at the brevity of the information. "Now, do I have your word of honor, the worth of it at least, that you will keep your end of the bargain?"  
  
"Ya have it." Dusty answered.  
  
"Yes." Replied Gloria, her sincerity ringing in every word.  
  
"Then turn away and leave. Go help your friends. The V.E.N.O.M. should be attacking them by now."  
  
Gloria cautiously got in the Gator and beckoned Dusty to move on. It was an uneasy truce. Both never took their eyes off each other. The trust that the other would keep their pact was so little that the slightest mistake could break it.  
  
When the Gator had moved away far enough, the mercenary turned his back and ran for the unmanned power station. Minutes later, a black helicopter, formerly the P.N.A.'s, rose into the air and headed north, upstream from the dam. The fact did not escape Gloria.  
  
"We gotta help the others." Dusty said worried. "Scott said something about that trap. It must've shut the other vehicles down." He filled Gloria in on Scott's radio transmission, which she had missed.  
  
"This Electro-Magnetic Pulse generator must be some sort of weapon which shuts machines down, just like the Gator's 'Electronic Ouch' cannon. And I bet it has a range. The mercenary was careful to head away from south. I'm betting that's the area effected. We have to stay out of it." Gloria surmised. "But what about Diane Kennedy?"  
  
"And what about the team? They're in trouble. They're sitting ducks for the V.E.N.O.M.!" Dusty looked worried, his usual happy-go-lucky attitude gone.  
  
"Scott. that's it!" Gloria grabbed the radio in her excitement and turned it on. Safely out of the EMP generator's range, it worked perfectly. "Gator to Boulder Hill, Gator to Boulder Hill. Come in, Boulder Hill."  
  
There was no answer. Gloria thought for a moment, then tried again. "Gator to Remora, do you copy?" She repeated the phrases a few times.  
  
"This is the Remora. We copy you, Gator." Answered a female voice. Gloria had never heard the voice before, but guessed it was the voice of the new recruit.  
  
"Gloria?" said Scott's voice, audibly astonished. "You're ok? What about the EMP generator? When we lost contact with the others I thought."  
  
"We were out of the generator range when it happened, Scott. But the rest of the team is in trouble. Dusty and I are heading over to keep the V.E.N.O.M. off the team. But we need you to find Diane. I have the co- ordinates of where she might possibly, or at least, a lead to where she is. I'm transmitting the co-ordinates now. What you're looking or is an old oil tanker."  
  
"Got it." Scott said later. "Inaya and I are heading there right now. And Gloria, we managed to dig up a piece of information about this generator. It's got a range of about 1 kilometer or less. If you keep out of it, you should be fine. Try to hit or disable the generator. That'll stop the vehicles from malfunctioning. I'll try to meet up with you at the exchange point with Remora if I can. After we find Diane." He added. "I'll contact you as soon as she's safe."  
  
"Right. Good luck to ya, Scott. Don't worry, we'll give the V.E.N.O.M. a few shots for you." Dusty said.  
  
"One more thing, I have a hunch the generator is situated somewhere high. Somewhere that allows it to see what's going on." Scott explained. "Watch yourselves. Scott Trakker out."  
  
"Well, we're on our own now, Dusty." Gloria said, clambering to the back of the Gator to man the Electronic Ouch cannon. EMP, is it? Well, let's give them a bit of their own medicine."  
  
"Where do you think it is?" Dusty asked. "The generator, I mean."  
  
"Well, Scott said somewhere high."  
  
"Somewhere like that?" Dusty asked, pointed. Gloria's gaze followed his outstretched had to rest on the dam's high wall.  
  
***************  
  
"Hondo!"  
  
The blast caught the back of the Firecracker, knocking the pickup over. Buddy crawled out of the wreckage, hoping that his partner was doing the same.  
  
"I'm all right, Buddy." Hondo grunted. "But we're not gonna be for long." He got up, not even bothering to brush off the dirt that lay on his hands and knees.  
  
"We'd better make a run for the Rhino." Buddy suggested. "Duck!" he cried suddenly in alarm. A second laser blast, badly aimed, missed them. "Those creeps!" Buddy exclaimed indignantly, hanging on to his cap. "They're getting such a kick out of this. they don't even bother to aim!"  
  
"Better watch what you wish for, Buddy. I don't know about you, but I'm not too keen on having V.E.N.O.M. being good shots." Hondo panted between breaths as they dashed for the Rhino. "Especially with our vehicles being knocked out by that EMP generator."  
  
"That thing Scott said?" Buddy recalled. "That thing took the juice out of everything?"  
  
"You got it. C'mon. We've got to get to Matt. Maybe we can figure out a way to block this generator."  
  
"Reminds me of that psiconic disrupter V.E.N.O.M. once had." Buddy commented. He decided then that talking while running was not a very good idea. He decided to save his breath and just concentrate on getting out of the way whenever the V.E.N.O.M. decided to shoot in their direction.  
  
Finally they made it. "Hondo, Buddy! In here!" Alex waved them into the cab of the Rhino, which was relatively safe compared to the other areas. "Thanks." Hondo panted.  
  
Brad was already there, looking very glum. Buddy wasn't sure why, but a glance behind him soon showed the reason. The Condor had been blasted into pieces. He could make out several green fragments dotting the landscape, a spare tire to his left, and what seemed to be a rotor blade sticking out of the ground some distance away. Brad was unhurt, having had the sense to abandon the vulnerable Condor the moment it was clear what had happened.  
  
"Hondo, what was that thing Scott was talking about before we lost contact?" Matt was talking to Hondo.  
  
"An Electro Magnetic Pulse Generator." Hondo explained. "It sends out a pulse wave which disrupts and causes our vehicles to jam and malfunction."  
  
"Anything we can do to stop the generator?" Matt asked.  
  
"In our present state. unfortunately, No." Hondo shook his head. "We'd have to be out of range from the generator for the vehicles to work, or we'd have to take out the generator itself."  
  
"Neither of which are easy." Matt said. "Do you think the Gator was affected by the generator?"  
  
"Well, I'm not sure, but there may be a chance that they're still operative. The Exchange Point is about a couple of miles away from where we are now. As far as I know, there are no EMP generators which have ranges that wide."  
  
"But what can we do?" Buddy interjected.  
  
"Keep alive, Buddy. And I dare say that'll be no easy task." Alex answered.  
  
***************  
  
"There it is." Inaya pointed out. "It's pretty far out." They had arrived at the coordinates the Gator had sent them. The deserted habour was in a dilapidated state, and the ruins of the old oil wells towered over the water, looking rather odd in the evening light. The tanker itself looked even worse. Rust had eaten away most of the railing on the sides and the hull was covered with some sort of growth, obscuring the barely discernable words: U.S.S. Margaret-Norris . It looked about to fall apart, but Scott's keen eyes could see that the area around it had been cleared of dangerous flotsam which might have damaged any vehicles passing through.  
  
"Hold on tight. I'm switching the Remora to aqua-scooter mode. We'll sneak up to them from underwater." Inaya nodded. She put on her diving gear while Scott slipped on his mask, called Aqua, which enabled him to breathe underwater. They had stopped briefly to allow Scott to get his mask and for Inaya to grab the gear she needed for the mission.  
  
"Are you sure those guns of yours are water-proof?" Scott asked. Privately, he thought he had never seen so many arms strapped to one person, but he didn't say so. A big cannon-like rifle, about three feet long, and four inches in diameter, was slung across Inaya's back. Two holsters strapped to her thighs carried two smaller handguns. A shoulder holster carried yet another gun, and she wore an ammo belt around her slender waist. A heavy duty hunting knife was stuck in her boot and another hung on her shoulder. The whole arsenal left barely enough space for her diving gear, which consisted of a standard issue diving mask and a pair of small air canisters containing enough air for about an hour.  
  
She nodded, not being able to speak with the diving mouthpiece clenched between her teeth. Scott set the Remora to a dive. As the water closed over their heads, Scott couldn't help feeling a thrill at finally being able to drive the Remora underwater.  
  
The water was murky, and very cold. Even with his insulated wetsuit, Scott could feel it. He hoped that Inaya, who wasn't wearing one, but clad in commando gear, was okay. Flak jackets, as Inaya called bulletproof vests, were all very fine, but they didn't keep one warm when diving in the water. However, Inaya stoically remained focused on their goal. If she felt the biting cold, she didn't show it.  
  
The Remora pushed through fronds of black oily seaweed and dead kelp. Silt swirled everywhere they passed. Sad remains of ships and equipment lay on the sea floor, so badly corroded by the salt water that they were almost unrecognizable. They seemed to be moving through a dead world. Ahead, the black hull of the tanker was outlined clearly against the surface, which seemed most inviting after the gloomy depths of the sea.  
  
Scott brought the Remora into a steep ascent. They would stop right under the tanker. They had already decided that Inaya would infiltrate the tanker and find Diane, or her whereabouts while Scott would head for the Exchange Point and help the M.A.S.K. out. When Inaya had finished her task, she would contact him and he would come for her.  
  
The Remora stopped. Scott was careful to maneuver the Remora so that the motion of the waves wouldn't throw the Remora against the hull of the tanker. Inaya pulled the gun from her shoulder holster and Scott discovered that it was actually one used to fire a grappling hook.  
  
It took her a moment to steady herself and aim. The next moment, a thundering report from her weapon was followed by something leaping out of the water and into the air at an astonishing speed. A dull clank, vibrating through the tanker and water, showed that the hook and caught on something. Inaya tested the line, found it satisfactory, and gave Scott a nod. Despite the diving mask, he could have sworn he saw her smile.  
  
She pressed a button on the gun and immediately, a winch in it whirred and pulled her up and out of the water. A moment later, she disappeared out of sight.  
  
Scott wished her luck and set the Remora on a course for the Exchange Point.  
  
***************  
  
Inaya was careful to propel herself away for the hull of the ship with her feet. Up ahead the deck of the tanker loomed. She had ascended from the port side of the ship.  
  
She hauled herself up the deck after making sure that no one was nearby. Immediately, she sought cover behind a couple of oil drums. There, she stowed her diving gear and grappling gun, which she felt she would not need. Next, she eased one of her handguns from its holster and crept for the bridge. There, she was sure, she would find the occupants of the vessel.  
  
She was not disappointed. A skinny man, with blond hair swept up in a very vertical hairstyle, was snickering to himself while gazing at a monitor. Inaya glanced at it herself, and was surprised to see a capital view of the battle at the exchange point. As far as she could see, the M.A.S.K. were taking a heavy beating. The V.E.N.O.M. vehicles were spread out in a crescent formation, carefully keeping out of the generator's range. One of the M.A.S.K. vehicles, a red pickup, lay on its side while the green motorbike which Buddy had said she was supposed to pilot was now scattered all over the battlefield. Inaya felt a twinge of annoyance, for some reason she couldn't explain. She spotted the only vehicle still (relatively) undamaged, which was the Rhino, the large red semi.  
  
Finally she made her move. "Hi. I was just dropping by." She announced, stepping out and brandishing her gun. The man jumped up, falling off his chair and hitting the floor.  
  
Inaya narrowed her eyes, looking as menacing as she could. Apparently, that was enough for the man, who immediately raised his hands, squealing for her not to shoot.  
  
"You're going to tell me where the girl is. Or we'll see just how much lead your body can take." She snarled.  
  
"She. she ain't here." He stammered.  
  
"Where is she?" Inaya demanded.  
  
"Ah.uh. and old building near the old port. on the shore."  
  
"Good. Now tell me everything you know about that place. I want traps, detection devices. everything."  
  
Gulping, he told her.  
  
***************  
  
"You're right! It's up there!" Gloria pointed excitedly. Perched on the dam wall was an odd looking piece of machinery. She was no Hondo McLean, but she knew the generator when she saw it. It could not have been anything else.  
  
Without much ceremony, Gloria and Dusty opened fire on the generator. To their surprise, their successive hits did nothing more than heat the generator's covering of armor. "That thing's too heavily armored for the Gator. And our guns aren't enough to take down the entire wall." Gloria shook her head as she spoke.  
  
"Maybe Backlash can. Backlash fire!!" Dusty commanded, activating his mask. He intended to bring the part of the wall on which the device was anchored to, down.  
  
The wall shuddered, but did not break. "The wall's too strong." Dusty said. "Gotta increase the power! Backlash, increase power!" The wall, built with the intention of withstanding incredible pressure, still managed to withstand the barrage.  
  
"Let me help. Aura on! Maximum power!" Gloria added the power of Aura, intending to create an opposite force to Backlash and tear the wall apart. Still, the wall refused to budge.  
  
"Backlash. maximum power!" Dusty ordered. The wall trembled violently. Cracks began to form in the dense concrete. "It's working!" However, that was all that changed. The wall remained intact.  
  
"It's not enough!" Gloria said in despair. We need something else. I'll try the gu-" She trailed off. "Oh no!"  
  
The rearview mirror showed the clear image of the Switchblade right behind them.  
  
***************  
  
"How can I be so sure you haven't left anything out?" Inaya kept the gun centered on Floyd Malloy, grinning menacingly to scare him further. She had had a very interesting half hour listening to what Floyd had to say. In that time, she had gleaned enough information to infiltrate the holding cell where Diana Kennedy was held, as well as the location of the rest of the V.E.N.O.M., the EMP generator and the vehicles that were on board.  
  
"I did! I did!" He insisted.  
  
She noticed the flickering of his eyes focusing on something behind. Quickly she spun around. Too late!  
  
Something hit her hand and sent her gun spinning away. Instinctively, she reached for her other gun.  
  
"Don't do that babe! You wouldn't want ol' Rax here riddling you with stilettos, would ya?" Floyd taunted. "Did I forget to mention that Rax was on board with me? How careless of me." He broke off in a cackle of laughter.  
  
Inaya growled and snatched the other gun of the holster, intending to aim it at Sly Rax, who had crept up at her at unawares. She cursed herself for letting him catch her off guard.  
  
He was faster that she was. "Stiletto fire!" A second wave of Stiletto darts caught her and propelled her backward, crashing into the wall. Her flak jacket protected her from getting hurt, except for her hand, which was bleeding from a graze when Rax had shot the gun out of her hand earlier. Her other gun was embedded to the wall, thanks to one random Stiletto dart and her rifle was pinned to the wall by her own body. The whole thing had taken less than a couple of seconds.  
  
"Ooooo. good going, Rax!" Floyd laughed even louder.  
  
"Shut up Floyd!" drawled Rax crossly. "You're lucky I came along when I did! What did you tell her?"  
  
If she could only reach one of her knives. In order to do something, you'll have to make sure you're still alive to do it. As quickly as the thought came, she banished it. Another attempt to fight would trigger another burst of darts, and she was sure that this Rax was a pretty good shot. If he wanted to, he could aim for her head, and since she hadn't brought her helm on account of the diving gear, she wouldn't stand a chance.  
  
Floyd was still arguing with Rax. "I couldn't help it! She had that gun at me! What was I supposed to do?" he whined.  
  
"You're useless, Floyd!" he yelled, dragging out the words. "You're lucky she's no M.A.S.K. agent. Mayhem will be really mad when he hears about this. Now go disarm her and cuff her in the hold. We'll put her there until Mayhem comes back."  
  
Inaya let him take her weapons. She was beaten, and she knew it. But a glimmer of defiance shone in her eyes as she was led to the hold. She wasn't done with them yet.  
  
***************  
  
"Ugh!" Dusty swerved hard as the Switchblade opened fire. "Gloria, that missile!"  
  
"I'm on it, Dusty." Gloria shielded Gator with Aura just in time. The missile exploded against the aura of yellow light. which died about five seconds later. "What the.? Dusty, I'm out of power!" She clambered to the back and manned the 'Electronic Ouch' gun. Unfortunately, its range was too short to enable her to use it on the Switchblade.  
  
Without warning, the radio crackled to life. "Remora to Gator. where are you?"  
  
"Scott? Ya got the girl?" Dusty swerved violently once more to avoid another shot. "Hang on Gloria!"  
  
"Inaya's on it. I came to help out. I'm on the upstream side of the dam. Have you found the generator?"  
  
"It's on the dam wall, Scott. We've got the Switchblade on our tail! You've gotta take the thing out! Don't bother tryin' to shoot it. Shoot the wall!" Another hard swerve. Without his abilities as a stunt driver, they wouldn't have managed it. "Gloria and I gave it a pretty good shakin'. It's gonna go down!"  
  
"Hang on in there, Gator. I'll have the Remora take the wall down. Remora out!"  
  
***************  
  
"Mayhem, we missed one. It's the Gator." Vanessa piloted the Switchblade expertly in pursuit of the jeep. Sooner or later she knew, she would get it in one shot.  
  
"It doesn't matter. They can't stop us now!" Mayhem radioed back.  
  
"They're too close to the generator! I'm going to take them out." Vanessa announced. "You boys had better stop playing around and get rid of the rest of the M.A.S.K. quick."  
  
"Get rid of them then. Vanessa, you make sure the Gator doesn't get too close to the generator."  
  
"Wait a minute. there's something new heading here on my radar. Shall I investigate?"  
  
"There's no need. It can't be anything important."  
  
Vanessa disagreed. "We can't underestimate the M.A.S.K., Mayhem."  
  
"Shut up Vanessa. You have your orders." Mayhem said curtly.  
  
"Why you." She growled as she aimed another shot at the Gator. "Fine. Be that way!"  
  
***************  
  
"There it is." Scott said to himself. The Remora skimmed the surface of the small lake the dam had trapped easily. "Now let's see about getting rid of it. Mud-skipper missiles. fire!" Since the targeting computer wasn't meant to lock on a wall, Scott had to dumb fire the missiles. A pair of the special missiles launched themselves from the underside of the Remora. And skipped out towards their target on the surface of the water.  
  
They headed for the generator, skimming on the surface at incredible speed. The missiles were able to travel that way thanks to the latest hydrofoil technology.  
  
A fair distance from the wall, a thruster attached to the missile lifted them up into the air in a steep forty-five degree angle of attack. One thing very good about those Mud-skipper missiles was that they were precise. Very precise.  
  
The missiles hit the base of the generator with a terrific explosion. The wall cracked and a large portion of it broke off. The generator, deprived of a steady mounting, wobbled and leaned to one side.  
  
It was like watching the entire thing in slow motion. The generator tipped slowly to one side, then plummeted down his side of the wall. It hit the water with terrifying force. Water was thrown high up into the air and large waves- the ripples headed in every direction.  
  
Mission accomplished.  
  
***************  
  
"Hoo-Whee! That son of a gun did it!" Dusty whooped.  
  
"All right! Way to go Scott!" Gloria radioed. Then she switched channels. "Gator to Rhino. Your vehicles are operational, get out of there!"  
  
"What the.? Gloria?" Matt's voice sounded truly astonished. In the background, she could hear Alex saying something like: "Everything's working!"  
  
Above them, The Switchblade fired a missile. "Heads up!" Dusty floored the accelerator. The jeep sped away. "Hey wait a minute. they ain't shootin' at us!?"  
  
The missile streaked past them and towards the last target Gloria expected it to- the Rhino.  
  
"Gloria, what's going on?" Scott radioed.  
  
The missile closed in. It would hit the Rhino in three seconds.  
  
"Rhino, evasive actions now! Missile at nine o' clock!"  
  
Two seconds.  
  
The Rhino revved up its engine and reversed.  
  
One second.  
  
The Rhino was too slow. The missile exploded against the side and tore the rig apart. Shreds of shrapnel flew in the air. The tires bounced away. A piece of door, burning, spun and hit the upset Firecracker. The entire rig burst into flames.  
  
"Noooo!" Dusty yelled, aghast.  
  
"The others.they couldn't have lived through that." Gloria felt tears come to her eyes. Angrily she blinked them away as she watched the Rhino burn.  
  
"Gloria?" Scott's voice was filled with dread.  
  
"I'm sorry Scott. We're too late." Gloria fought to control her voice. Dusty turned his face away, glad for once that his mask hid his face.  
  
To be concluded.  
  
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Credits: First of all, I'd like to thank The Hitman, Lisa and Kallah for reading over the first version of the fanfic, pointing out the mistakes, and helping me to make this a better piece of fanfic and giving me the encouragement every fanfic writer needs. I'd also like to give my thanks to Megaman, the really cool guy who provides all those Realvideo episodes of M.A.S.K., which in turn keeps me interested. Also to all those people who gave me feedback, you know who you are. Lastly, I'd like to thank Jarod Kowalski (Did I spell that right?), who started the M.A.S.K. RPG long long ago. So it didn't last long... but hey, if he hadn't created the RPG, my character, Inaya Vendun would never have been born... Thanx all! - Hytac  
  
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This fanfic is the copyright of Hytac Please do not use without written permission. M.A.S.K. is the copyright of Kenner Parker toys... yada yada yada 


	4. The Price

Disclaimer: This was a fanfic I wrote long ago, when I still used to write fanfic. It was originally posted on my site, The MASK Mindforge.  
  
The versions at my site have illustrations.  
  
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Wait for the Dawn  
  
Part Four: The Price  
  
Story and Illustrations By Hytac  
  
-------------------  
  
"So, you thought you had me there eh? Well, looks like you're wrong, don'tcha think, babe?" Inaya was cuffed to a stray pipe in the tanker by her hands. Floyd had lingered around in the hold to gloat.  
  
"Maybe I did." She wriggled her fingers experimentally. They were able to reach the back of her ammo belt, which they hadn't taken.  
  
He stopped, putting his face in front of hers. "You know, you're not a bad looking babe for a P.N.A. commando."  
  
"Oh really?" she tried her best to look smitten.  
  
"I'm in pretty good with ol' Mayhem. Maybe, even maybe, I could convince him to let you live." He got even closer, looking at her up and down. "But I'll want something in return, if you know what I mean babe?"  
  
Inaya batted her eyelashes and smiled seductively. "Why don't you come closer and tell me?"  
  
"That's more like it." He grinned and inched closer until she could feel his breath. And smell it too. She tried not to gag. That guy really needed a lot of breath mints. A whole lot.  
  
"Well." she said slowly, still smiling. "I might find you interesting." She pursed her lips to add to the effect. She had learned some time ago that playing along and flattering were the best ways to handle Casanovas. It worked with Floyd. He began grinning foolishly.  
  
"On second thought." Her smiling, seductive face was instantly replaced by a truly frightening one. As Floyd gaped in surprise, she snaked out her hand and caught him by the throat. Then she smiled again, this time diabolically as she pulled her other arm back as far as it would go. ". You're not my type."  
  
Her fist connected solidly with Floyd's jaw. He slumped to the ground, unconscious. "Ouch. For a dandy, you sure have a hard jaw." She commented, gently massaging her hand. Now she had two hands that hurt. "I can't believe I did that. Ugh!"  
  
Gracefully, she stooped to pick up her lock pick which she had dropped while giving Floyd a free trip to dreamland and secreted it in a compartment in the back of her ammo belt. "Always knew it'd come in handy sometime." she commented Then she grabbed the unlocked handcuffs which still hung from the pipe.  
  
She bent down and began cuffing the unconscious Floyd. Just as she reached for the other hand, she paused and thought for a moment before stabbing her finger at his chest.  
  
"And don't call me babe!"  
  
*****  
  
"The Switchblade's on me!" Scott started the Remora and fled from the helicopter. Panic threatened to take control of him, and he could feel his heart hammering wildly. The Switchblade had destroyed his father and the team. for a moment he felt his eyes smart. And now there was no one left on the battlefield except for Gloria, Dusty and him.  
  
"Scott! We're comin' buddy, hold on!" He barely heard Dusty's voice issuing from the radio.  
  
"But how can we get over the wall?" came the voice of Gloria, off mike.  
  
If Dusty had answered, he never heard it. He was too busy dodging the Switchblade's attack. Dive you idiot! A voice in his head hissed. Blindly, he did so.  
  
Relief washed over him about the same time the water did. The Switchblade, essentially an air vehicle, could not pursue him while he was underwater. He simply jinked for a while, randomly changing directions as to prevent the Switchblade from guess his location and shooting blindly. While it couldn't see him, it could guess his location and shoot blindly with the lasers, which worked well enough in the water.  
  
Suddenly he became aware that the radio was still on and someone was saying something to him. "Scott? Come in, Scott. Remora, come in." A sigh through the radio. "I think Switchblade got him, Gloria." Scott realized Dusty must have been patiently calling him and repeating those phrases over and over.  
  
"I'm here Dusty." He spoke guiltily. "I'm sorry about that. Too busy running from Switchblade."  
  
"Whew! I thought you were a goner!" Dusty replied in devout relief.  
  
"I can't surface, The Switchblade's waiting for me. I'm trapped under the lake."  
  
"We'll try to distract it then. The moment it's clear, I want you to make a break for it and find your partner. Get Diane. We'll have to salvage what we can from the situation." Gloria instructed.  
  
"Right." Ironically, his mouth felt dry although he was basically surrounded by water. Still, he was determined not to let himself panic again.  
  
As he waited, he wondered how Inaya was doing.  
  
*****  
  
Sly Rax felt impatient. Bad enough he was stuck at the base with the jerk of a Floyd when the team was having fun getting rid of the M.A.S.K. -then that commando had to show up, and Floyd, being an idiot, had to spill the beans about the whereabouts of the girl.  
  
He watched the monitor of the battle, laughing as he saw Vanessa in the Switchblade and the Gator sniping at each other, using the dam wall as cover. He panned the camera to where the other V.E.N.O.M. vehicles were and saw that They had finished off the other vehicles and were heading for the Gator.  
  
"They'll be caught like rats in a trap!" Sly thought in satisfaction. The satisfaction quickly turned into frustration. "I should be out there!"  
  
Suddenly it occurred to him that Floyd was taking an unusually long time to put their prisoner in the hold. Feeling more and more irritated by the minute, he stomped toward the hold. "Floyd! What's taking you so lo-ong?"  
  
No answer.  
  
"Bet that creep's been flirting with the commando. He's so vain, he thinks every girl who sees him falls in love with him." Sly muttered. "Well, I'm about to burst his bubble." He barged into the hold, prepared to give Floyd a piece of his mind.  
  
No one was in it.  
  
"What the.?" Sly looked around. Where did that Floyd bring that commando? He was sure he had told him to put her there. Just like Floyd to forget and put her somewhere else.  
  
Suddenly he caught a glimpse of something from the corner of the hold. He walked toward it, thinking it looked rather familiar.  
  
Familiar? That's Floyd! the little voice in his head screamed. It was Floyd. Sly was still looking dumbly when he realized several things.  
  
One, Floyd was out cold.  
  
Two, Floyd was cuffed and hidden in the corner.  
  
Three, the commando was nowhere in sight.  
  
Four, Someone must have knocked Floyd out, cuffed him and hidden him.  
  
Five, that Someone must have been the commando.  
  
Six, The commando was on the loose.  
  
Seven, he had stupidly left his mask beside the monitor.  
  
He was about to think Eight when the resounding slam of the hold door jarred him awake. He turned and ran for it, even as he heard the unmistakable sound of bolts being shot home. Then the sound of someone jamming the door from outside the hold.  
  
The door had been left open when he entered the hold. Now it was shut tight. He tried it anyway, and confirmed that it was indeed locked. He muttered an imprecation and banged at the door.  
  
"Let! Me! Out!!" He hollered. Whoever who was outside paid no attention. Click. Click. Clack. That blasted foxy commando was rearming herself with her weapons which he had left where he had put his mask. Then there was the hiss of static and squawking of radio.  
  
"Arrrgh!!! Why you." he yelled angrily. The commando was calling someone, and there was nothing he could do about it. He growled. When Floyd came to, Rax vowed that that little imp was going to have hell to pay.  
  
*****  
  
"Now!" Gloria shouted.  
  
The Remora leapt out of the water in a manner characteristic of a predator ambushing prey. The difference here, of course ,that the Remora was the prey.  
  
Scott felt a mix of relief and fear. Relief that the Switchblade's attention was focused on the Gator, and fear for Gloria and Dusty. He felt like a coward, to be the one running away from a fight and leaving the Gator. For one moment he wanted to turn back, but remembering Gloria's instructions, stuck to his objectives.  
  
His radio crackled to life. "Vendun to Remora." Scott had never been so relieved to hear a voice before.  
  
"Tell me the good news, Inaya."  
  
"Don't count your chickens before they hatch, Scott." Inaya replied dryly. "Diane isn't here, but I know where she is. An abandoned warehouse on shore. It's rigged to blow, but I think I can get us past the systems long enough to get Diane out."  
  
"I'm on my way."  
  
"Is everything all right where you are? Did you knock that EMP generator out like Hal said?"  
  
"Yeah." Scott told her without a hint of joy. Inaya must have detected it, for she immediately asked, "What went wrong?"  
  
"Came too late. They got my Dad and almost everyone."  
  
"I'm sorry to hear that, Scott." She said quietly. Scott didn't answer. "I saw what happened on a video display at their base, at least, some of it. If only they could have hung on a bit longer." she said, trailing off.  
  
The Remora was well away from Larkpoint dam, the Exchange point and heading for the old oil wells. The radio went silent, but Scott could sense the disquiet. In the distance he could see the tanker.  
  
"I see you Scott. I'll be on the port side."  
  
Scott replied an affirmative. Seeing no need to dive, he skimmed on the surface and closed in on the port side of the tanker. He could see Inaya waving. When he was close enough, she began rappelling down the sides of the tanker.  
  
"You have no idea how good it is to see you." Inaya said in devout relief and she clambered on behind him. Scott blushed.  
  
"Hey, you're hurt!" Scott noticed the cut on her hand. "What happened?"  
  
"Dart grazed my hand." Inaya replied nonchalantly. "Nothing serious. Now let's get going. Diane's life is at stake. We don't have long. Mayhem never intended to give her back to the P.N.A. He's set a timer to detonate in case he wouldn't get the chance to do it himself."  
  
"Knew that worm would do something like that." Scott muttered. "Well, not if we get there first."  
  
"We will save Diane." Inaya said grimly, "No matter the cost." They pulled away from the tanker, leaving the Margaret-Norris far behind them.  
  
*****  
  
"Oh man." Dusty couldn't help but say at the sight before them. An ominous line of V.E.N.O.M. vehicles approached from the south, and the Gator still had the Switchblade to deal with. "Gloria."  
  
"I know Dusty. How can we possibly beat them all?"  
  
"Well. we dang sure can try!" Dusty finished for her. "Let's go!"  
  
A deadly game of cat and mouse began. The Gator roared around crazily like an out-of-control car, avoiding blasts of laser fire and dealing out punishment to any vehicle unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end of its guns. Fortunately for them, the V.E.N.O.M. vehicles were so tightly clustered that friendly fire soon became an issue amongst themselves.  
  
But it wouldn't last long. Dusty knew it as well as Gloria did, but they were going to give the V.E.N.O.M. a run for their money. They'd go down fighting.  
  
******  
  
"Hmm. this place looks just about to fall down." Scott commented. Indeed it did. The walls of the warehouse near the unloading docks were covered with old posters which had been rendered illegible long ago by the elements. Piles of refuse lay around, scattered by the wind.  
  
"Look again." Inaya instructed.  
  
"Don't see anything." Scott answered, after a moment of scrutiny.  
  
"See the windows on the second floor? They're all boarded up."  
  
"So?"  
  
Inaya removed a pair of the smallest binoculars he had ever seen from some hidden pouch. "Here, have a look." Scott accordingly obeyed, pulling Aqua off to do so. "See what I mean? If you look carefully, you'll see the glint of reinforced steel behind those boards."  
  
Scott whistled. "You're right. So Diane's up there?"  
  
"I'd bet on it."  
  
"Then we'd better get going. We don't have much time. Mask on!" He pulled Aqua over his head.  
  
Inaya nodded. The Remora roared forward(if that could be used to describe a vehicle that moved relatively silently for a bike) and headed for the warehouse. "Wait a minute. I thought I saw some- Scott!! " Inaya suddenly shouted.  
  
Scott swerved sharply and out of the way just as a blast he never saw coming incinerated the rubbish piles just next to where they had been.  
  
"Gun turrets!" Inaya yelled. Scott nodded and rode like a madman with Inaya clinging for dear life behind him, weaving to avoid the bombshell blasts coming from a pair of hidden gun turrets. Suddenly he felt the pressure of her grip slacken and realized that she was holding on to him by only one hand. What on earth was she doing?  
  
Then felt a hand holding his shoulder lightly. "Keep going! Occupy those turrets." he missed a few words. ".till.of them." Just as the Remora raced by a crane parked next to the building. Inaya fired her grappling gun at it, then activated the winch, launching herself off the bike.  
  
Unsure of what to do, he simply obeyed what she had told him to do. Carefully he sped around the compound in irregular circles and figure- eights, presenting an irresistible target for the gun turrets. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Inaya, still swinging in the air by the cable from the grappling gun, pull out her cannon-like gun and fire three consecutive shots at one of the gun turrets.  
  
The first shot went wide and missed her mark by a wide margin, wasting itself on the ground in the distance. The second hit the first turret with a satisfying boom, damaging it considerably. The third scored a direct hit, tearing it out of its anchoring and throwing the wreckage right in front of the other remaining turret.  
  
The other turret, still intent on obliterating the Remora, kept shooting regardless. However, this only resulted in the explosive shells hitting the wreck of the other gun turret, causing the shells to explode before it had cleared the barrel of the turret. This continued for several seconds, then both turrets suddenly exploded, sending a dark cloud of smoke heavenwards. Scott, very much relieved, slowed the Remora and stopped right under the crane.  
  
Inaya slid down, unfastened and retrieved her grappling gun and gave him a thumbs up. "Good riding."  
  
"You're the one who took out the turrets." Scott replied, secretly pleased.  
  
"Couldn't have done it without you playing the hardest part-the bait. And not to mention a lot of luck." Inaya smiled and got back to business. "Now, we'd better get up to the second level and find Diane. We have less than an hour."  
  
Scott parked the Remora and both of them set off at a quick sprint.  
  
*****  
  
The crosshairs of the Jackhammer's targeting systems centered on the Gator. Mayhem had missed several times before, but he knew this was going to be different this time. This time the pesky jeep would be converted into a mass of fire and molten metal, and there would go the last of the M.A.S.K.  
  
"Die M.A.S.K.!" he bawled. "This'll teach you to think you could ever stand up to me!!"  
  
Just as his thumb was about to depress the trigger, the world abruptly turned upside down. More precisely, the Jackhammer was being rammed hard from behind by something he hadn't noticed. His shot stabbed the sky and hit nothing.  
  
"What the?" Cliff said, bewildered. The much ignored rearview mirror showed the fatal truth. Larger than life, the huge bulk of the Rhino, with its battering ram extended, was just in the process of backing away from the Jackhammer, having butted it hard enough to crumple the back end of the vehicle. Mayhem and Cliff had been so preoccupied in getting the Gator that they hadn't noticed it coming. "It's the M.A.S.K.!"  
  
"Impossible!!" screeched Mayhem, his eyebrows bristling. "No! We destroyed them. unless." he paused and went silent. Suddenly, all the times he had been tricked before flashed before his eyes. "The holograms! Those blasted holograms they use! We've been tricked!"  
  
As if to emphasize his point, A wave of the other vehicles thought to be destroyed flanked the Rhino. Cliff floored the gas pedal and brought the Jackhammer into a screaming start. The Rhino opened fire and proceeded to demolish the tires and what remained of the back of it. Undaunted, the vehicle kept moving, if that word could have been used to describe the jerky, ear-tearing movement of the damaged vehicle.  
  
Rendered irrational by panic at seeing their leader hit, each and every V.E.N.O.M. unit fled before the onslaught.  
  
Inside the Gator, Gloria and Dusty both stared in amazement.  
  
"Do ya see what I see?" Dusty said, mouth agape.  
  
"I do, and I still don't believe it! It's too good to be true! They're alive!" Gloria looked on the edge of jumping for joy.  
  
"Then what are we doin here chewin' the fat for?" Dusty suddenly realized. "Let's join the party! Yee-Ha!" Without a warning, the gas pedal met the floor and the Gator leapt forward to help out.  
  
The Jackhammer was partially disabled, so they didn't bother about it, but drew up beside the Rhino. "Guys!" Gloria yelled, forgetting completely about her radio.  
  
"Hi Gloria." Brad's head was out of the window and Hocus-Pocus was on full blast. Gloria gaze followed it and realized the truth. All the other vehicles were holograms! Only the Rhino was real.  
  
"Well I'll be. you got 'em runnin' from a buncho o' holograms?" Dusty said in admiration, having realized the truth.  
  
"Hey, Illusion is the ultimate weapon, remember?"  
  
"I'd say." Gloria muttered, unable to decide whether she wanted to slap him or agree with him. "But what I'd like to know is how did you escape that missile? I know it wasn't a hologram."  
  
"We got your warning just in time." Answered Bruce. "Brad lured the missile away with Hocus-Pocus, while Hondo detonated it with Blaster as soon as it passed us far enough. Then Brad kept up the illusion of us being destroyed until the V.E.N.O.M. went after you."  
  
"That was quick thinking."  
  
"Hey, I'm just glad we're alive." Matt said. "Scott?"  
  
"He went off for Diane. That kid of yours did great Matt."  
  
"I know."  
  
*****  
  
"Blast. Twin triggers. I don't like this." Inaya peered through the tiny gap, a frown marring her face. Scott tried to see over her shoulder, but all he could glimpse was a few wires and her wire cutter.  
  
"You do know how to do this, right?"  
  
"I've been trained in it, but no, I'm not a specialist. My specialty is bio- weapons, not explosives." She paused for a moment. "Hmm. I don't think that was assuring, was it?"  
  
They had broken into the warehouse to find it deserted. Despite all that, Inaya and Scott had been very careful. Which was as well, because when they had made their way to the room where they presumed Diane would be, Scott had spotted a elaborate laser detonated bomb which would have set the building on fire if they hadn't been so cautious. Scott was willing to bet that this was the same bomb as the timer Inaya had mentioned earlier.  
  
Since Scott wasn't qualified in dismantling bombs yet (Although Bruce had been teaching him), Inaya had taken over. She had by some miraculous means, produced a compact bomb diffusion kit and begun work on the bomb.  
  
"Ok. Here's the hard part. Which wire?" She was muttering as she reached the final part. Her wire cutter hovered uncertainly over two wires: One maroon and one green. Both powered a separate laser trigger, making it impossible to cut both at once. "Red? Green?"  
  
The wire cutter eased into position, over the red wire. Inaya was about to cut it when suddenly, a flash of insight blinded Scott. "Stop! Not the red!"  
  
"What?" Inaya looked shaken.  
  
"It's standard procedure for the trigger wire to be red, right?" Scott said, heart pounding. "If I know V.E.N.O.M., they'd do it the other way wrong to confuse anyone trying to diffuse the bomb."  
  
"You sure?" Inaya asked, looking at him piercingly.  
  
Scott didn't answer. Self-doubt was beginning to creep in. But he had had a gut feeling.  
  
"White roses." Inaya said suddenly, out of the blue.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Commando joke." Inaya explained. "When a commando in my team is about to cut a trigger wire of a bomb, he or she names the type of flower he or she likes most."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"It's a way of expressing hope that your comrade lives to put those flowers on your grave should you blow it. No pun intended." She added hastily.  
  
"Uhh. ok." Scott didn't know what to make of that kind of logic. "White roses it is." Scott's stomach gave nervous lurch. What if he was wrong?  
  
Without further conversation, Inaya cut the green wire.  
  
******  
  
Back at the battlefield, the M.A.S.K. were still pursuing the V.E.N.O.M., but they kept a steady distance so that the V.E.N.O.M. wouldn't realize that they were running from two vehicles and a bunch of holograms.  
  
Suddenly, the V.E.N.O.M. veered off course, as if avoiding something. "What's going on?" Brad said, bewildered.  
  
"I say! There's a line of. tanks blocking them." Alex observed.  
  
"Tanks?" Dusty echoed stupidly. "Tanks?"  
  
"No just any tanks." Gloria looked even more incredulous. "P.N.A. tanks!"  
  
The dull droning on gunfire could be heard. "They're opening fire!" Thick black smoke rose in the distance.  
  
"Talk about nice timing. But who called them? Matt?" Bruce turned to their leader.  
  
"Not me." Matt shook his head. "This is." then his eyes widened. "Vendun! She must have called them. Who else could it have been?" He frowned slightly. Matt had never liked military help when on a mission; although in this case he certainly needed it, it still didn't appeal to him that Vendun had called reinforcements behind his back.  
  
He forced his mind back on track. "This is our chance!" he told the others. "Our one chance to get Mayhem and the V.E.N.O.M. once and for all!"  
  
The others looked back at him, amazed. So far, their thoughts had been getting out of this alive. They'd never contemplated the possibility of capturing Mayhem after he had slipped through their fingers for so many times. But the amazement lasted only for a few seconds.  
  
"What are we waitin' for?!" yowled Dusty. "Let's do it!"  
  
"With just the Rhino and Gator?" Brad's lone comment sounded rather skeptical. But no one took any notice. The very appealing idea of putting Miles Mayhem behind bars had them all motivated.  
  
But a thought suddenly struck Gloria. Acting immediately, she exchanged a few words with Bruce and Matt. Minutes later, the ATV belonging to the Rhino detached itself and raced off; but its direction was not that of the other two vehicles.  
  
******  
  
The red diode winked out. Inaya held her breath. If the green lighted up, they were both dead. No, she corrected herself; all three of them would be dead. She, Scott, and Diane Kennedy.  
  
The green diode flared to life. Her eyes widened. She stared at it in disbelief for what seemed like an eternity, then heard Scott say something, she couldn't make out what- before all hell broke loose. Some invisible force shoved her forward, throwing her into the air and she hit the iron cast door hard. Pain exploded and her vision blurred into a haze of red. She could hear Scott's cry of pain, and her own alien scream.  
  
She came to and found herself lying in a tangle of a limbs. She was sprawled in a most awkward position, her limbs all bent at odd angles. Everything hurt. There was something sticky running down her cheek. From prior experience, she knew it was blood.  
  
It was still liquid, which meant she hadn't passed out for more than ten minutes. Slowly she opened her eyes. She was surprised to see that instead of a cavern of rubble, the section of the building they were in was relatively complete. She realized with a jolt that they'd been lucky. The bombs wired to this side of the building, for some reason, hadn't blown. If they had, she wouldn't be where she was. She would have been dead. The shockwave from the other bombs must have been what which had slammed her and Scott against the wall.  
  
"Inaya? Can you hear me?" Inaya looked around and realized that Scott was beside her, looking very anxious. He, too, looked considerably battered, but judging by the look of horror on his face, he was better off than she was. "You all right?"  
  
A stupid question, but she decided to overlook it. He was just being concerned. "I'll live." she ventured and got up. She could have sworn her joints creaked and her muscles screamed, but at least they still worked despite all the protests they were shrieking.  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"Half the bombs blew. I must have cut the wire which triggered the bombs on this side of the building." She caught the stricken look on Scott's face. "We're lucky." She added. "If I had cut the other wire we'd all be dead while the bombs on the other side of the building wouldn't detonate. Thank goodness you intervened."  
  
"And Diane?" Scott prompted. To tell the truth, she'd forgotten about Diane for the moment, but the urgency came rushing back.  
  
"We've got to get her out- now. The building's still standing but it could go any moment." Without further discussion she forced the door open. It yielded.  
  
The room was stark and bare. A rusty bed stood in one corner, next to a boarded up window. On that bed lay Diane Kennedy, cuffed to the railings. She raised her head groggily in bewilderment. Scott followed her into the room. Diane's eyes widened. "Scott!" she shrieked and burst into tears.  
  
Instinctively Scott put his arm around her as she continued sobbing into his shoulder. "I knew you'd come. I was so scared."  
  
"Move over Scott." Inaya said quietly. He looked up. Was it his imagination, but was there something glistening in her eye? She was holding a lock pick in her hand. She reached over, and in a moment, had Diane's manacles off. Her wrists were chafed and bleeding, but what worried Scott was her condition.  
  
"She's been drugged."  
  
"Curse those terrorists." Inaya muttered suddenly with inexplicable wrath. "No child should ever have to experience this."  
  
Scott couldn't help feeling that Inaya had a personal agenda against terrorists from the way she spoke. But now wasn't the time or place to discuss terrorism. He lifted Diane. "I'll carry her." he announced. Inaya didn't protest. The smaller woman would be much more useful in protecting them.  
  
They hurried out of room and headed for the stairs. Inaya was trying to wipe off some of the blood from her face, but some still stayed on. The result was ghastly. But she didn't seem to care. She held her handgun in front of her, alertly scanning for any possible threats.  
  
"Oh no!" They had reached the stairwell. But they could go no further. The reason: it had disappeared. the lower stairs had collapsed. Acrid smoke rose in a billowing column from it.  
  
"How are we going to get out?" Scott asked Inaya.  
  
She thought for a moment and pointed up. "Roof." The stairs up to the roof were still intact. "But the smoke's going to be a big problem. How long can you hold your breath?"  
  
"Won't need to." Scott tapped Aqua. "Does your diving gear work out of the water?"  
  
Inaya looked dumbfounded. "'Doh! Never thought of that. Good thinking. But that only covers the two of us, what about Diane?"  
  
"Leave that to me." Scott said confidently. Reaching to a hidden compartment on Aqua's right side, he detached what looked like a breathing mask. It shared the same air supply with the mask. "I designed Aqua for rescue missions as well. The supply will deplete faster, but we won't need that much anyway."  
  
"Have I told you that you surprise me sometimes?" Inaya said just before she put on her diving mask. From the look on her face, her opinion of him had risen a few notches. Scott couldn't help but feel pleased.  
  
Approximately five minutes later a trapdoor on the roof of the building burst open. Scott and Inaya scrambled out. Diane blinked in the comparatively bright light as the last rays of the sun bathed the sky with rays of pink and gold, edging the clouds with a filigree of the same color.  
  
Scott was about to say something to Ina when he stopped short. Her eyes were wide open in fear. Slowly he became aware of the fact that the air vibrated with the unmistakable beat of a helicopter. "Brad?" he guessed even though he knew it couldn't possibly be. The Condor was currently in pieces, and he knew it all too well. By the reflection of Inaya's amber hued diving mask, he could see the Switchblade right behind him. It must have tracked the Remora there. As he turned around to look at it, he saw the guns slides out from their hidden panels and aim at them.  
  
Inaya thrust her grappling gun into Scott's hand. "Run! Fire at crane.get down.get clear.be right behind!" she barked so fast that he could barely keep up. He hesitated. " GO! Leave this to me! " she commanded as she unslung the rifle from her back.  
  
He didn't even stop to think. With Diane over one shoulder and grappling gun in hand, he ran. Seeing the crane, he fired at it; The grappling hook glinted as it arced through the air and caught the metal support. Instinctively he thumbed the trigger again. The winch activated and pulled him off the roof. Now he was swaying in mid-air. Diane was screaming in fear. He depressed the trigger once more. It slowly lowered them both towards the ground. The familiar boom of Inaya's rifle and the hiss of the Switchblade's laser blasts. and an uncanny silence.  
  
Then the world fell apart in a series of explosions. He felt a strange burning pain sweep over him. But he still kept his death grip on both Diane and the cable.  
  
The moment seemed to be frozen in time. Everything was stunningly clear. He saw the entire building he'd just vacated explode and crumble into dust. Oddly enough, he couldn't help thinking what a beautiful effect the dust clouds formed against the sunset. The Switchblade, caught in the blast, spun out of control and was spiraling into the harbor. He saw the immolated figure that was his partner somersault into the air, thrown by the incredible force of the explosion- which he knew now, had been caused by a stray shot from the Switchblade. It must have hit one of the undetonated bombs and triggered a chain reaction.  
  
She grasped vainly for the cable as she plummeted past, still shrouded in a corona of flames. He caught a glimpse of her doomed face as she plunged into the shadows two floors below. From the corner of his eye he could see a familiar black ATV rumble towards them.  
  
But his attention was directed upward as a crack was followed by a lack of tension from the cable. It had given way and snapped.  
  
He never remembered hitting the ground.  
  
******  
  
The voices seemed far off. They swam in Scott's head.  
  
".hasn't been any change at all?"  
  
"He's been out for most of the night." the second voice seemed familiar, but he couldn't place it.  
  
His eyes snapped open. He was lying on a bed, in a dim room. Two figures were beside him. One was sitting, the other standing. "Dad?" he ventured uncertainly.  
  
"Scott!" Matt was sitting on the chair. He looked as though he wanted to hug his son, but didn't dare to. The doctor, whom he didn't know, looked relieved.  
  
"What happened?" he asked.  
  
"It's over now. Bruce got there in time and saved you both. " His father urged. "Diane is safe thanks to you. Now rest."  
  
"But what about In.?"  
  
"You need your strength. Rest." Matt was deliberately avoiding the question.  
  
"What- happened- to- my- partner?!? " Scott pressed. His father had fallen silent and was avoiding his eyes. But deep inside, he knew. "She's dead, isn't she?" he said softly.  
  
Matt gave an almost imperceptible nod. Scott leaned back, letting the pillows support him. His eyes turned and looked at the clock on the wall. It was forty past five. There was no light coming from the window. Dawn had yet to arrive.  
  
"I'm sorry Scott. She was still alive when we got her to the hospital, but the doctors said she succumbed to her burn wounds at approximately one 'o six this morning."  
  
"She died to give us a chance to get away." he said brokenly. Suddenly, he knew that he hated the V.E.N.O.M. more than anything else in the world.  
  
"We got the V.E.N.O.M." His father said, as if reading his mind. "Miles Mayhem and the rest of the team are now under lock and key. The only one we didn't get was Vanessa. She went down with the Switchblade. The other two- Sly Rax and Floyd Malloy got away."  
  
"So we win. It's over."  
  
"Yes. It's over."  
  
Or was it? Somehow, Scott doubted it.  
  
******  
  
The interior of the room was shrouded in darkness, lighted only by the glare of the computer screen. A single figure sat before it.  
  
"Up so late, Cain?" A single voice loomed out of the darkness. A second man, rather heavily built, joined the first. "Or should I say early?"  
  
"I had work to do." Cain replied. "Look at this. I just found a bit of information that might interest you. Here: the demise of a Captain Inaya Vendun, P.N.A. Commando squadron. Cain looked up at the second man, as if trying to read his emotions, but his face remained impassive. "Another one?"  
  
"Possibly. Look into it."  
  
"And you'll be.?"  
  
".contacting an old friend." the second man replied. The radiance from the monitor caught his face, and lighted up the twin scars that marred it.  
  
******  
  
Deep underwater, the wreck of the Switchblade waited for the dawn. For only then would it be discovered and brought to light once more. Until then, it would have to wait on the ocean floor. At the present, it seemed most unremarkable. Unremarkable. except that the cockpit door was wide open.  
  
THE END... For now  
  
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Credits: First of all, I'd like to thank The Hitman, Lisa and Kallah for reading over the first version of the fanfic, pointing out the mistakes, and helping me to make this a better piece of fanfic and giving me the encouragement every fanfic writer needs. I'd also like to give my thanks to Megaman, the really cool guy who provides all those Realvideo episodes of M.A.S.K., which in turn keeps me interested. Also to all those people who gave me feedback, you know who you are. Lastly, I'd like to thank Jarod Kowalski (Did I spell that right?), who started the M.A.S.K. RPG long long ago. So it didn't last long... but hey, if he hadn't created the RPG, my character, Inaya Vendun would never have been born... Thanx all! - Hytac  
  
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This fanfic is the copyright of Hytac Please do not use without written permission. M.A.S.K. is the copyright of Kenner Parker toys... yada yada yada 


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